The Great White Queen

The Great White Queen
Le Queux, William
Published: 1897
Categorie(s): Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org
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About Le Queux:
William Tufnell Le Queux (July 2, 1864 London - October 13, 1927
Knocke, Belgium) was an Anglo-French journalist and writer. He was
also a diplomat (honorary consul for San Marino), a traveller (in Europe,
the Balkans and North Africa), a flying buff who officiated at the first
British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who
broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally
available; his claims regarding his own abilities and exploits, however,
were usually exaggerated.
Also available on Feedbooks for Le Queux:
• The Czar's Spy (1905)
• The Seven Secrets (1903)
• The Stretton Street Affair (1922)
• Hushed Up! (1911)
• The Sign of Silence (1915)
Copyright: This work is available for countries where copyright is
Life+70 and in the USA.
Note: This book is brought to you by Feedbooks
http://www.feedbooks.com
Strictly for personal use, do not use this file for commercial purposes.
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Chapter 1
A ROMANCE!
It is a curious story, full of exciting adventures, extraordinary discover-
ies, and mysteries amazing.
Strange, too, that I, Richard Scarsmere, who, when at school hated geo-
graphy as bitterly as I did algebraic problems, should even now, while
just out of my teens, be thus enabled to write down this record of a peril-
ous journey through a land known only by name to geographers, a vast
region wherein no stranger had ever before set foot.
The face of the earth is well explored now-a-days, yet it has remained
for me to discover and traverse one of the very few unknown countries,
and to give the bald-headed old fogies of the Royal Geographical Society
a lesson in the science that I once abominated.
I have witnessed with my own eyes the mysteries of Mo. I have seen
the Great White Queen!
Three years ago I had as little expectation of emulating the intrepidity
of Stanley as I had of usurping the throne of England. An orphan, both of
whose parents had been drowned in a yachting accident in the Solent
and whose elder brother succeeded to the estate, I was left in the care of
a maternal uncle, a regular martinet, who sent me for several long and
dreary years to Dr. Tregear's well-known Grammar-school at East-
bourne, and had given me to understand that I should eventually enter
his office in London. Briefly, I was, when old enough, to follow the pro-
saic and ill-paid avocation of clerk. But for a combination of circum-
stances, I should have, by this time, budded into one of those silk-hatted,
patent-booted, milk-and-bun lunchers who sit on their high perches and
drive a pen from ten till four at a salary of sixteen shillings weekly. Such
was the calling my relative thought good enough for me, although his
own sons were being trained for professional careers. In his own estima-
tion all his ideas were noble and his generosity unbounded; but not in
mine.
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But this is not a school story, although its preparatory scenes take
place at school. Some preparatory scenes must take place at school; but
the drama generally terminates on the broader stage of the world. Who
cares for a rehearsal, save those who have taken part in it? I vow, if I had
never been at Tregear's I would skip the very mention of his name. As it
is, however, I often sigh to see the shadow of the elms clustering around
the playground, to watch the moonbeans illumine the ivied wall oppos-
ite the dormitory window. I often dream that I am back again, a Cæsar-
hating pupil.
Dr. Tregear, commonly called "Old Trigger," lived at Upperton, a sub-
urb of Eastbourne, and had accommodation for seventy boys, but during
the whole time I remained there we never had more than fifty. His ad-
vertisements in local and London papers offering "Commercial training
for thirty guineas including laundress and books. Bracing air, gravel soil,
diet best and unlimited. Reduction for brothers," were glowing enough,
but they never whipped up business sufficiently to attract the required
number of boarders. Nevertheless, I must admit that old Trigger, with all
his faults and severity, was really good-hearted. He was a little sniffing,
rasping man, with small, spare, feeble, bent figure; mean irregular fea-
tures badly arranged round a formidable bent, broken red nose; thin
straggling grey hair and long grey mutton-chop whiskers; constantly
blinking little eyes and very assertive, energetic manners. He had a con-
stant air of objecting to everything and everybody on principle. Knowing
that I was an orphan he sometimes took me aside and gave me sound
fatherly advice which I have since remembered, and am now beginning
to appreciate. His wife, too, was a kindly motherly woman who, because
being practically homeless I was often compelled to spend my holidays
at school, seemed better disposed towards me than to the majority of the
other fellows.
Yes, I got on famously at Trigger's. Known by the abbreviated appella-
tion of "Scars," I enjoyed a popularity that was gratifying, and, bar one or
two sneaks, there was not one who would not do me a good turn when I
wanted it. The sneaks were outsiders, and although we did not reckon
them when we spoke of "the school," it must not be imagined that we
forgot to bring them into our calculations in each conspiracy of devil-
ment, nor to fasten upon them the consequences of our practical jokes.
My best friend was a mystery. His name was Omar Sanom, a thin
spare chap with black piercing eyes set rather closely together, short
crisp hair and a complexion of a slightly yellowish hue. I had been at
Trigger's about twelve months and was thirteen when he arrived. I well
4
remember that day. Accompanied by a tall, dark-faced man of decided
negroid type who appeared to be ill at ease in European clothes, he was
shown into the Doctor's study, where a long consultation took place.
Meanwhile among the fellows much speculation was rife as to who the
stranger was, the popular opinion being that Trigger should not open his
place to "savages," and that if he came we would at once conspire to
make his life unbearable and send him to Coventry.
An hour passed and listeners at the keyhole of the Doctor's door could
only hear mumbling, as if the negotiations were being carried on in the
strictest secrecy. Presently, however, the black man wished Trigger
good-day, and much to everyone's disgust and annoyance the yellow-
faced stranger was brought in and introduced to us as Omar Sanom, the
new boy.
The mystery surrounding him was inscrutable. About my own age, he
spoke very little English and would, in conversation, often drop uncon-
sciously into his own language, a strange one which none of the masters
understood or even knew its name. It seemed to me composed mainly of
p's and l's. To all our inquiries as to the place of his birth or nationality
he remained dumb. Whence he had come we knew not; we were only
anxious to get rid of him.
I do not think Trigger knew very much about him. That he paid very
handsomely for his education I do not doubt, for he was allowed priv-
ileges accorded to no one else, one of which was that on Sundays when
we were marched to church he was allowed to go for a walk instead, and
during prayers he always stood aside and looked on with superior air, as
if pitying our simplicity. His religion was not ours.
For quite a month it was a subject of much discussion as to which of
the five continents Omar came from, until one day, while giving a geo-
graphy lesson the master, who had taken the West Coast of Africa as his
subject, asked:
"Where does the Volta River empty itself?"
There was a dead silence that confessed ignorance. We had heard of
the Russian Volga, but never of the Volta. Suddenly Omar, who stood
next me, exclaimed in his broken English:
"The Volta empties itself into the Gulf of Guinea. I've been there."
"Quite correct," nodded the master approvingly, while Baynes, the fel-
low on my left, whispered:—
"Yellow-Face has been there! He's a Guinea Pig—see?"
I laughed and was punished in consequence, but the suggestion of the
witty Baynes being whispered round the school was effective. From that
5
moment the yellow-faced mysterious foreigner was commonly known as
"the Guinea Pig."
We did our best to pump him and ascertain whether he had been born
in Guinea, but he carefully avoided the subject. The information that he
came from the West Coast of Africa had evidently been given us quite in-
voluntarily. He had been asked a question about a spot he knew intim-
ately, and the temptation to exhibit his superiority over us had proved
too great.
Not only was his nationality a secret, but many of his actions puzzled
us considerably. As an instance, whenever he drank anything, water, tea,
or coffee, he never lifted his cup to his lips before spilling a small quant-
ity upon the floor. If we had done this punishment would promptly have
descended upon us, but the masters looked on at his curious antics in
silence.
Around his neck beneath his clothes he wore a sort of necklet com-
posed of a string of tiny bags of leather, in which were sewn certain hard
substances that could be felt inside. Even in the dormitory he never re-
moved this, although plenty of chaff was directed towards him in con-
sequence of this extraordinary ornament. It was popularly supposed that
he came from some savage land, and that when at home this string of
leather bags was about the only article of dress he wore.
If rather dull at school, he very soon picked up our language with all
its slang, and quickly came to the fore in athletics. In running, swimming
and rowing no one could keep pace with him. On foot he was fleet as a
deer, and in the water could swim like a fish, while at archery he was a
dead shot. Within three months he had lived down all the prejudices that
had been engendered by reason of his colour, and I confess that I myself,
who had at first regarded him with gravest suspicion, now began to feel
a friendliness towards him. Once or twice, at considerable inconvenience
to himself he rendered me valuable services, and on one occasion got me
out of a serious scrape by taking the blame himself, therefore within six
months of his arrival we became the firmest of chums. At work, as at
play, we were always together, and notwithstanding the popular feeling
being antagonistic to my close acquaintance with the "Guinea Pig," I nev-
ertheless knew from my own careful observations that although a
foreigner, half-savage he might be, he was certainly true and loyal to his
friends.
Once he fought. It was soon after we became chums that he had a
quarrel with the bully Baynes over the ownership of a catapult. Baynes,
who was three years older, heavier built and much taller, threatened to
6
thrash him. This threat was sufficient. Omar at once challenged him, and
the fight took place down in the paddock behind a hedge, secure from
Trigger's argus eye. As the pair took off their coats one of the fellows jok-
ingly said—
"The Guinea Pig's a cannibal. He'll eat you, Baynes."
Everybody laughed, but to their astonishment within five minutes our
champion pugilist lay on the ground with swollen eye and sanguinary
nose, imploring for mercy. That he could fight Omar quickly showed us,
and as he released the bully after giving him a sound dressing as a cat
would shake a rat, he turned to us and with a laugh observed—
"My people are neither cowards nor cannibals. We never fight unless
threatened, but we never decline to meet our enemies."
No one spoke. I helped him on with his coat, and together we left the
ground, while the partisans of Baynes picked up their fallen champion
and proceeded to make him presentable.
Like myself, Omar seemed friendless, for when the summer holidays
came round both of us remained with the Doctor and his wife, while the
more fortunate ones always went away to their homes. At first he
seemed downcast, but we spent all our time together, and Mrs. Tregear,
it must be admitted, did her best to make us comfortable, allowing us to
ramble where we felt inclined, even surreptitiously supplying us with
pocket-money.
It was strange, however, that I never could get Omar to talk of himself.
Confidential friends that we were, in possession of each other's secrets,
he spoke freely of everything except his past. That some remarkable ro-
mance enveloped him I felt certain, yet by no endeavour could I fathom
the mystery.
Twice or thrice each year the elderly negro who had first brought him
to the school visited him, and they were usually closeted a long time to-
gether. Perhaps his sable-faced guardian on those occasions told him
news of his relatives; perhaps he gave him good advice. Which, I know
not. The man, known as Mr. Makhana, was always very pleasant to-
wards me, but never communicative. Yet he made up for that defect by
once or twice leaving half-a-sovereign within my ready palm. He ap-
peared suddenly without warning, and left again, even Omar himself be-
ing unaware where he dwelt.
Truly my friend was a mystery. Who he was, or whence he had come,
was a secret.
7
Chapter 2
OMAR'S SLAVE.
Omar had been at Trigger's a little over two years when a strange incid-
ent occurred. We were then both aged about sixteen, he a few months
older than myself. The summer holidays had come round again. I had a
month ago visited my uncle in London, and he had given me to under-
stand that after next term I should leave school and commence life in the
City. He took me to his warehouse in Thames Street and showed me the
gas-lit cellar wherein his clerks were busy entering goods and calling out
long columns of amounts. The prospect was certainly not inviting, for I
was never good at arithmetic, and to spend one's days in a place wherein
never a ray of sunshine entered was to my mind the worst existence to
which one could be condemned.
When I returned I confessed my misgivings to Omar, who sympath-
ised with me, and we had many long chats upon the situation as during
the six weeks we wandered daily by the sea. We cared little for the
Grand Parade, with its line of garish hotels, tawdry boarding-houses and
stucco-fronted villas, and the crowd of promenaders did not interest us.
Seldom even we went on the pier, except to swim. Our favourite walks
were away in the country through Willingdon to Polegate, over Beachy
Head, returning through East Dean to Litlington and its famed tea-
garden, or across Pevensey Levels to Wartling, for we always preferred
the more unfrequented ways. One day, when I was more than usually
gloomy over the prospect of drudgery under my close-fisted relative, my
friend said to me cheerfully:
"Come, Scars, don't make yourself miserable about it. My people have
a saying that a smile is the only weapon one can use to combat misfor-
tune, and I think it's true. We have yet a few months more together be-
fore you leave. In life our ways will lie a long way apart. You will be-
come a trader in your great city, while I shall leave soon, I expect, to——"
and he paused.
"To do what?" I inquired.
8
"To go back to my own people, perhaps," he answered mechanically.
"Perhaps I shall remain here and wait, I know not."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait until I receive orders to return," he answered. "Ah, you don't
know what a strange life mine has been, Scars," he added a moment later
in a confidential tone. "I have never told you of myself for the simple
reason that silence is best. We are friends; I hope we shall be friends al-
ways, even though my enemies seek to despise me because I am not
quite white like them. But loyalty is one of the cherished traditions of my
people, and now that during two years our friendship has been firmly
established I trust nothing will ever occur to interrupt it."
"I take no heed of your enemies, Omar," I said. "You have proved
yourself genuine, and the question of colour, race, or creed has nothing
to do with it."
"Perhaps creed has," he exclaimed rather sadly. "But I make no pre-
tence of being what I am not. Your religion interests me, although, as
you know, I have never been taught the belief you have. My gods are in
the air, in the trees, in the sky. I believe what I have been taught; I pray
in silence and the great god Zomara hears me even though I am separ-
ated from my race by yonder great ocean. Yet I sometimes think I cannot
act as you white people do, that, after all, what my enemies say is true. I
am still what you term a savage, although wearing the clothes of your
civilization."
"Though a man be a pagan he may still be a friend," I said.
"Yes, I am at least your friend," he said. "My only regret is that your
uncle will part us in a few months. Still, in years to come we shall re-
member each other, and you will at least have a passing thought for
Omar, the Guinea Pig," he added, laughing.
I smiled too, but I noticed that although he endeavoured to appear
gay, his happiness was feigned, and there was in his dark eyes a look of
unutterable sadness. Our conversation drifted to a local cricket match
that was to be played on the morrow, and soon the gloomy thoughts that
seemed to possess him were dispelled.
It was on the same sunny afternoon, however, that a curious incident
occurred which was responsible for altering the steady prosaic course of
our lives. The most trifling incidents change the current of a life, and the
smallest events are sufficient to alter history altogether. Through the
blazing August afternoon we had walked beyond Meads, mounted
Beachy Head, passed the lighthouse at Belle Tout and descended to the
beach at a point known as the Seven Sisters. The sky was cloudless, the
9
sea like glass, and during that long walk without shelter from the sun's
rays I had been compelled to halt once or twice and mop my face with
my handkerchief. Yet without fatigue, without the slightest apparent ef-
fort, and still feeling cool, Omar walked on, smiling at the manner in
which the unusual heat affected me, saying:
"Ah! It is not hot here. You might grumble at the heat if the sun were
as powerful as it is in my country."
When we descended to the beach and threw ourselves down under the
shadow of the high white cliffs to rest, I saw there was no one about and
suggested a swim. It was against old Trigger's orders, nevertheless the
calm, cool water as it lazily lapped the sand proved too tempting, and
very shortly we had plunged in and were enjoying ourselves. Omar left
the water first, and presently I saw while he was dressing the figure of a
tallish, muscular man attired in black and wearing a silk hat approaching
him. As I watched, wondering what business the stranger could have
with my companion, I saw that when they met Omar greeted him in nat-
ive fashion by snapping fingers, as he had often done playfully to me.
Whoever he might be, the stranger was unexpected, and judging from
the manner in which he had been received, a welcome visitor. I was not
near enough to distinguish the features of the newcomer, but remember-
ing that I had been in the water long enough, I struck out for the shore,
and presently walked up the beach towards them.
Omar had dressed, and was in earnest conversation with a gigantic
negro of even darker complexion than Mr. Makhana. Unconscious of my
approach, for my feet fell noiselessly upon the sand, he was speaking
rapidly in his own language, while the man who had approached him
stood listening in meek, submissive attitude. Then, for the first time, I
noticed that my friend held in his hand a grotesquely carved stick that
had apparently been presented by the new-comer as his credential, to-
gether with a scrap of parchment whereon some curious signs,
something like Arabic, were written. While Omar addressed him he
bowed low from time to time, murmuring some strange words that I
could not catch, but which were evidently intended to assure my friend
that he was his humble servant.
In spare moments Omar had taught me a good deal of his language.
Indeed, such a ready pupil had I been that frequently when we did not
desire the other fellows to understand our conversation we spoke in his
tongue. But of what he was saying to this stranger, I could only under-
stand one or two words and they conveyed to me no meaning. The negro
was a veritable giant in stature, showily dressed, with one of those
10
gaudily-coloured neckties that delight the heart of Africans, while on his
fat brown hand was a large ring of very light-coloured metal that looked
suspiciously like brass. His boots were new, and of enormous size, but as
he stood he shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, showing that he
was far from comfortable in his civilized habiliments.
Without approaching closer I picked up my things and dressed rap-
idly, then walked forward to join my companion.
"Scars!" he cried, as soon as I stood before him. "I had quite forgotten
you. This is my mother's confidential adviser, Kouaga."
Then, turning to the grinning ebon-faced giant he uttered some rapid
words in his own language and told him my name, whereupon he
snapped fingers in true native fashion, the negro showing an even set of
white teeth as an expression of pleasure passed over his countenance.
"We little thought that we were being watched this afternoon," Omar
said to me, smiling and throwing himself down upon the sand, an ex-
ample followed by the negro and myself. "It seems that Kouaga arrived
in Eastbourne this morning, but there are strong reasons why none
should know that he has seen me. Therefore he followed me here to hold
palaver at a spot where we should not be observed."
"You have a letter, I see."
"Yes," he said slowly, re-reading the strange lines of hieroglyphics.
"The news it contains necessitates me leaving for Africa immediately."
"For Africa!" I cried dismayed. "Are you going?"
"Yes, I must. It is imperative."
"Then I shall lose you earlier than I anticipated," I observed with heart-
felt sorrow at the prospect of parting with my only chum. "It is true, as
you predicted, our lives lie very far apart."
The negro lifted his hat from his brow as if its weight oppressed him,
then turning to me, said slowly and with distinctness in his own tongue:
"I bring the words of the mighty Naya unto her son. None dare dis-
obey her commands on pain of death. She is a ruler above all rulers; be-
fore her armed men monarchs bow the knee, at her frown nations
tremble. In order to bring the palaver she would make with her son I
have journeyed for three moons by land and sea to reach him and deliv-
er the royal staff in secret. I have done my duty. It is for Omar to obey.
Kouaga has spoken."
"Let me briefly explain, Scarsmere," my friend interrupted. "Until the
present I have been compelled to keep my identity a secret, for truth to
tell, there is a plot against our dynasty, and I fear assassination."
"Your dynasty!" I cried amazed. "Are your people kings and queens?"
11
"They are," he answered. "I am the last descendant of the great Sanoms
of Mo, the powerful rulers who for a thousand years have held our coun-
try against all its enemies, Mahommedan, Pagan or Christian. I am the
Prince of Mo."
"But where is Mo?" I asked. "I have never heard of it."
"I am not surprised," he said. "No stranger has entered it, or ever will,
for it is unapproachable and well-guarded. One intrepid white man ven-
tured a year ago to ascend to the grass plateau that forms its southern
boundary, but he was expelled immediately on pain of death. My coun-
try, known to the neighbouring tribes as the Land Beyond the Clouds,
lies many weeks' journey from the sea in the vast region within the bend
of the great Niger river, north of Upper Guinea, and is coterminous with
the states of Gurunsi and Kipirsi on the west, with Yatenga on the north-
west, with Jilgodi, Aribinda, and Libtako on the north, with Gurma on
the east, and with the Nampursi district of Gurunsi on the south."
"The names have no meaning for me," I said. "But the fact that you are
an actual Prince is astounding."
With his hands clasped behind his head, he flung himself back upon
the sand, laughing heartily.
"Well," he said, "I didn't want to parade my royal ancestry, neither do I
want to now. I only tell you in confidence, and in order that you shall
understand why I am compelled to return. During the past ten years
there have been many dissensions among the people, fostered by the en-
emies of our country, with a view to depose the reigning dynasty. Three
years ago a dastardly plot was discovered to murder my mother and my-
self, seize the palace, and massacre its inmates. Fortunately it was frus-
trated, but my mother deemed it best to send me secretly out of the
country, for I am sole heir to the throne, and if the conspirators killed
me, our dynasty must end. Therefore Makhana, my mother's secret
agent, who purchases our arms and ammunition in England and con-
ducts all trade we have with civilized countries, brought me hither, and I
have since been in hiding."
"But Makhana has been bribed by our enemies," exclaimed the big
negro, who had been eagerly listening to our conversation, but under-
standing no word of it save the mention of Makhana's name. Turning to
Omar he added: "Makhana will, if he obtains a chance, kill you. Be
warned in time against him. It has been ascertained that he supplied the
men of Moloto with forty cases of rifles, and that he has given his pledge
that you shall never return to Africa. Therefore obey the injunction of my
royal mistress, the great Naya, and leave with me secretly."
12
"Without seeing Makhana?" asked Omar.
"Yes," the black-faced man replied. "He must not know, or the plans of
the Naya may be thwarted. Our enemies have arranged to strike their
blow three moons from now, but ere that we shall be back in Mo, and
they will find that they go only to their graves. Kouaga has made fetish
for the son of his royal mistress, and has come to him bearing the stick."
"What does the letter say?" I asked Omar, noticing him reading it
again.
"It is brief enough, and reads as follows," he said:
"'Know, O my son Omar, that I send my stick unto thee by our trusty Kou-
aga. Return unto Mo on the wings of haste, for our throne is threatened and thy
presence can avert our overthrow. Tarry not in the country of the white men,
but let thy face illuminate the darkness of my life ere I go to the tomb of my
ancestors.
"Naya.'"
I glanced at the scrap of parchment, and saw appended a truly regal
seal.
"And shall you go?" I asked with sorrow.
"Yes—if you will accompany me."
"Accompany you!" I cried. "How can I? I have no money to go to
Africa, besides——"
"Besides what?" he answered smiling. "Kouaga has money sufficient to
pay both our passages. Remember, I am Prince of Mo, and this man is
my slave. If I command him to take you with me he will obey. Will you
go?"
The prospect of adventure in an unknown land was indeed enticing.
In a few brief words he recalled my dismal forebodings of the life in an
underground office in London, and contrasted it with a free existence in
a fertile and abundant land, where I should be the guest and perhaps an
official of its ruler. He urged me most strongly to go as his companion,
and in conclusion said:
"Your presence in Mo will be unique, for you will be the first stranger
who has ever set foot within its capital."
"But your mother may object to me, as she did to the entrance of the
white man of whom you just now spoke."
"Ah! he came to make trade palaver. You are my friend and confid-
ant," he said.
"Then you suggest that we should both leave Eastbourne at once,
travel with Kouaga to Liverpool and embark for Africa without return-
ing to Trigger's, or saying a word to anyone?"
13
"We must. If we announce our intention of going we are certain to be
delayed, and as the steamers leave only once a month, delay may be fatal
to my mother's plans."
As he briefly explained to Kouaga that he had invited me to accom-
pany him I saw that companion to an African prince would be a much
more genial occupation than calculating sums in a gas-lit cellar; there-
fore, fired by the pleasant picture he placed before me, I resolved to ac-
cept his invitation.
"Very well, Omar," I said, trying to suppress the excitement that rose
within me. "We are friends, and where you go I will go also."
Delighted at my decision my friend sprang to his feet with a cry of joy,
and we all three snapped fingers, after which we each took a handful of
dry sand and by Omar's instructions placed it in one heap upon a rock.
Then, having first mumbled something over his amulets, he quickly
stirred the heap of sand with his finger, saying:
"As these grains of sand cannot be divided, so cannot the bonds of
friendship uniting Omar, Prince of Mo, with Scarsmere and Kouaga, be
rent asunder. Omar has spoken."
14
Chapter 3
OUTWARD BOUND.
How, trembling lest we should be discovered, we left Eastbourne by
train two hours later—Kouaga joining the train at Polegate so as to avoid
notice—how the Grand Vizier of Mo purchased our travelling necessities
in London; how we travelled to Liverpool by the night mail, and how we
embarked upon the steamer Gambia, it is unnecessary to relate in detail.
Suffice it to say that within twenty-four hours of meeting the big negro
we were safely on board the splendid mail-steamer where everything
was spick and span. Kouaga had engaged a cabin for our exclusive use,
and the captain himself had evidently ascertained that Omar was a per-
son of importance, for in passing us on deck he paused to chat affably,
and express a hope that we should find the voyage a pleasant one.
"Your coloured servant has told me your destination," he said, ad-
dressing Omar. "We can't land you there on account of the surf, but I un-
derstand a boat from shore will be on the look-out. If it isn't, well, you'll
have to go on to Cape Coast Castle."
"The boat will be in readiness," Omar said smiling. "If it isn't, those in
charge will pay dearly for it. You know what I mean."
The Captain laughed, drew his finger across his throat, and nodded.
"Yes," he said. "I've heard that in your country life is held cheap. I
fancy I'd rather be on my bridge than a resident in the Naya's capital. But
I see I'm wanted. Good-bye," and he hurried away to shout some order
to the men who were busy stowing the last portion of the cargo.
As we leaned over the rail watching the bustle on board the steam
tender that lay bobbing up and down at our side, we contemplated the
consternation of old Trigger when he found us missing. No doubt a hue
and cry would be at once raised, but as several persons we knew had
seen us walking towards the Belle Tout, it would, without a doubt, be
surmised that we had been drowned while bathing. The only thing we
regretted was that we had not left some portion of our clothing on the
beach to give verisimilitude to the suggestion. However, we troubled
15
ourselves not one whit about the past. I was glad to escape from the
doom of the gas-lit cellar, and was looking forward with keen anticipa-
tion to a new life in that mystic country, Africa.
At last there was shouting from the bridge, the tender cast off, the bell
in the engine-room gave four strokes, the signal for full-speed ahead,
and ere long we were steaming past that clanging beacon the Bell Buoy,
and heading for the open sea. The breeze began to whistle around us, the
keen-eyed old pilot tightened his scarf around his throat, and carefully
we sped along past the Skerries until we slowed off Holyhead, where
he shook hands with the captain, and with a hearty "good-bye" swung
himself over the bulwarks into the heavy old boat that had come along-
side. Thus was severed the last link that bound us to England.
Standing up in his boat he waved us a farewell, while our captain, his
hands behind him, took charge of the ship and shouted an order.
Ting-ting-ting-ting sounded the bell below, and a moment later we
were moving away into the fast falling night. For a long time we re-
mained on deck with Kouaga, watching the distant shore of Wales fade
into the banks of mist, while now and then a brilliant light would flash
its warning to us and then die out again as suddenly as it had appeared.
We had plenty of passengers on board, mostly merchants and their fam-
ilies going out to the "Coast," one or two Government officials, engineers
and prospectors, and during the first night all seemed bustle and confu-
sion. Stewards were ordered here and there, loud complaints were heard
on every side, threats were made to report trivialities to the captain, and
altogether there was plenty to amuse us.
Next day, however, when we began to bow gracefully to the heavy
swell of the Atlantic the majority of the grumblers were glad enough to
seek the comfort and privacy of their berths and to remain there, for dur-
ing the two days that followed the waves ran mountains high, the wind
howled, the bulkheads creaked and the vessel made plunges so unexpec-
tedly that to stand was almost impossible. The great waves seemed to
rush upon us as we ploughed our way through them, sometimes bury-
ing our bows in foam and at others striking us and lifting us high up, the
shock almost causing us to stop. The roar of the tempest
seemed deafening, the ship's bell tolled with regularity, but no one ap-
peared in the saloon, and it seemed as if the cook in his galley had little,
if anything, to do.
"Never mind," I heard one officer say to another, as they lounged out-
side their cabins off duty. "It'll give 'em their sea legs, and the weather
will be all right the other side of the Bay."
16
Both laughed. Sailors seem to enjoy the discomforts of passengers.
During those two days I think we were the only passengers who spent
the whole day on deck. Kouaga was a poor sailor and was in his bunk
horribly bad. When we visited him the whites of his eyes seemed per-
fectly green.
This was my first taste of a storm, and I must confess that I did not en-
joy it. I was not ill, but experienced a feeling the reverse of comfortable.
Through all, however, I congratulated myself that I had actually left Eng-
land, and was about to commence life in a new land. The officer whose
words I had overheard proved a prophet, for after three days of bad
weather we ran into blue water, calm as a mill-pond, the sun shone out
warm and bright, as quickly as the spirits of the passengers had fallen
they rose again, and a round of gaiety commenced that continued un-
broken until we left the vessel.
We touched at Funchal, a pretty town of white villas half hidden by
the surrounding greenery, and with others went ashore, but we were not
there more than a couple of hours, for soon the Blue-Peter was run to our
masthead as signal that the ship was about to sail, and we were com-
pelled to re-embark. Then a gun was fired on board, the crowd of small
craft around us that had put out for the purpose of selling the passengers
bananas, live birds, etc., sheered off, and very soon we had restarted on
our southward voyage.
Ere long, having passed the snow-capped peak of Teneriffe of which
we had heard so much at Trigger's, we entered the region of the trade-
winds, and the steamer, aided by its sails that were now spread, held
rapidly on its course rounding Cape Verd. For a day we anchored off Ba-
thurst, then steamed away past the many rocky islands off the coast of
Guinea until we touched Free Town, the capital of that unhealthy British
colony Sierra Leone. Anchoring there, we discharged some cargo, resum-
ing our voyage in a calm sea and perfect weather, and carefully avoiding
the dangerous shoals of St. Ann, we passed within sight of Sherboro Is-
land, a British possession, and also sighted Cape Mount, which Omar
told me was in the independent republic of Liberia. For several days
after this we remained out of sight of land until one afternoon, just about
tea-time, the captain came up to us, saying—
"We shall make the mouth of the Lahou River in about two hours, so
you'd better be prepared to leave. I'll keep a good look-out for your boat.
Have you had a pleasant voyage?"
"Very," we both replied in one voice.
17
"Glad of that," he said, and turning to Omar added, "you'll look after
me if ever I get up country as far as Mo, won't you?"
"Of course," my friend answered laughing. "If you come you shall
have a right royal welcome. Come at any time. You'll have nothing to
fear when once inside the borders of my mother's country."
"Ah, well. Perhaps I'll come some day, when I retire on my pension
and set up as an African chief—eh?"
We all laughed, and he ascended the steps again to the bridge.
Kouaga, in the meantime, was busy collecting our things, giving gratu-
ities to the stewards, and otherwise making preparations to leave. For
over two hours we eagerly watched in the direction of the shore, being
assisted by a crowd of passengers who had by this time learnt that we
were to be taken off.
The shore which slowly came into view as our eager eyes scanned the
horizon was the Ivory Coast, but the sun sank in a glorious blaze of crim-
son, and dusk crept on, yet the captain, whose glasses continually swept
the sea, could distinguish no boat approaching us.
"I'm afraid," he shouted to us from the bridge, "their look-out is not
well kept. We'll have to take you along to Cape Coast, after all."
"Why not fire a gun, Captain?" suggested Kouaga, his words being in-
terpreted by Omar.
"Very well," he answered, and turning to the officer, he gave orders
that the signal gun should be fired three times at intervals.
Presently there was a puff of white smoke and the first loud report
rang out, making the vessel quiver beneath us. We waited, listening, but
there was no response. The light quickly faded, night cast her veil of
darkness over the sea, but we still stood in for the coast.
Again, about half-past nine, the gun belched forth a tongue of flame,
and the report sounded far over the silent waters. All was excitement on
deck, for it was a matter of speculation whether an answering shout or
gunshot could be heard above the roar and throbbing of the engines.
Ten, eleven o'clock passed, and presently the third gun was exploded so
suddenly that the ladies were startled. Again we listened, but could hear
nothing. Kouaga fumed and cursed the evil-spirit for our misfortune,
while Omar, finding that we were to be taken to Cape Coast Castle, im-
parted to me his fear that the fortnight's delay it must necessarily entail,
would be fatal to his mother's plans.
We were hanging over the taffrail together gazing moodily into the
darkness, having given up all hope of getting ashore at the Lahou River,
18
when suddenly about half a mile from us we saw a flash, and the report
of a rifle reached us quite distinctly, followed by distant shouting.
"There they are!" cried Omar excitedly. "They've hailed us at last!"
But ere the words had fallen from his lips we heard the bell in the
engine-room ringing, and next second the steam was shut off and we
gradually hove to.
Kouaga was at our side almost immediately, and we found ourselves
surrounded by passengers taking leave of us. Our boxes were brought
up by a couple of sailors, and after about a quarter of an hour's wait,
during which time the vessel rose and fell with the swell, the craft that
had hailed us loomed up slowly in the darkness, amid the excited jabber
of her demoniac-looking crew.
She was a large native vessel, brig-rigged, and as dirty and forbidding-
looking a craft as you could well see anywhere. Kouaga hailed one of the
black, half-clad men on board, receiving a cheery answer, and presently,
having taken leave of the captain and those around us, we climbed over
the bulwarks and sprang upon the deck of the mysterious ship.
As Omar alighted the whole crew made obeisance to him, afterwards
crowding around me, examining me by the lurid light of the torches they
had ignited.
Very quickly, however, several boxes belonging to Kouaga were
lowered, the moorings were cast off, and slowly the great mail steamer
with its long line of brilliantly-lit ports looking picturesque in the night,
moved onward.
"Good-bye," shouted a voice from the steamer.
"Good-bye," I responded, and as the steamer's bell again rang out, "full
speed ahead," I knew that the last tie that bound us to European civiliza-
tion was severed.
19
Chapter 4
A STRANGE PROMISE.
By the light of the flambeaux the sleek, black, oily-looking natives man-
aged their clumsy craft, which, dipping suddenly now and then, shipped
great seas, compelling us to hang on for life. The sails creaked and
groaned as they bent to the wind, speeding on in the darkness towards
the mainland of Africa. To be transferred to such a ship, which I more
than suspected was a slaver, was a complete change after the clean, well-
ordered Liverpool liner, and I must confess that, had we not been in
charge of Kouaga, I should have feared to trust myself among that
shouting cut-throat crew of grinning blacks. Clinging to a rope I stood
watching the strange scene, rendered more weird by the flickering un-
certain light of the torches falling upon the swarm of natives who
manned the craft.
"Are these your mother's people?" I inquired of Omar.
"Some are. I recognize several as our slaves, the remainder are Sanwi,
or natives of the coast. Our slaves, I suppose, have been sent down to be
our carriers."
"Judging from the manner in which they crawl about this is, I should
think, their first experience of the sea," I said.
"No doubt. Over a thousand English miles of desert and almost im-
penetrable bush separates the sea from our kingdom, therefore few, very
few of our people have seen it."
"They'll go back with some wonderful tales, I suppose."
"Yes. They will, on their return, be considered heroes of travel, and
their friends will hold feasts in their honour."
As he finished speaking, however, our cumbrous craft seemed sud-
denly to be lifted high out of the water, and amid the unearthly yells of
the whole crew we were swept through a belt of foaming surf, until in a
few moments our keel slid upon the sand.
20
I prepared to leap down upon the beach, but in a second half-a-dozen
willing pairs of arms were ready to assist me, and I alighted in the midst
of a swarm of half-clad, jabbering natives.
One of them, elbowing his way towards me, asked in broken English:
"Massa have good voyage—eh?" whereupon the others laughed heart-
ily at hearing one of their number speak the language of the white men.
But Kouaga approached uttering angry words, and from that moment
the same respect was paid to me as to Omar.
We found there was a small village where we landed, otherwise the
coast was wild and desolate. In an uncleanly little hut to which we were
taken when our boxes were landed and the excitement had subsided, we
were regaled with various African delicacies, which at first I did not find
palatable, but which Omar devoured with a relish, declaring that he had
not enjoyed a meal so much since he had left "the Coast" for England.
But I did not care for yams, and the stewed monkey looked suspiciously
like a cooked human specimen. My geographical knowledge was not so
extensive as it might have been, and I was not certain whether these nat-
ives were not cannibals. Therefore I only made a pretence of eating, and
sat silently contemplating the strange scene as we all sat upon the floor
and took up our food with our fingers. When we had concluded the feast
a native woman served Omar with some palm wine, which, however, he
did not drink, but poured it upon the ground as an offering to the fetish
for his safe return, and then we threw ourselves upon the skins stretched
out for us and slept till dawn.
At sunrise I got up and went out. The place was, I discovered, even
more desolate than I had imagined. Nothing met the eye in every direc-
tion but vast plains of interminable sand, with hillocks here and there,
also of sand; no trees were to be seen, not even a shrub; all was arid, dry
and parched up with heat. The village was merely an assemblage of a
dozen miserable mud huts, and so great was the monotony of the scene,
that the eye rested with positive pleasure on the dirty, yellow-coloured
craft in which we had landed during the night. It had apparently once
been whitewashed, but had gradually assumed that tawny hue that al-
ways characterises the African wilderness.
Again Omar and I were surrounded by the crowd of fierce-looking
barbarians, but the twenty stalwart carriers sent down from Mo, appar-
ently considering themselves a superior race to these coast-dwellers,
ordered them away from our vicinity, at the same time preparing to start
for the interior. Under the direction of Kouaga, who had already aban-
doned his European attire and now wore an Arab haick and white
21
burnouse, the gang of chattering men soon got their loads of food and
merchandise together—for the Grand Vizier had apparently been pur-
chasing a quantity of guns and ammunition in England—hammocks
were provided for all three of us if we required them, and after a good
meal we at length set out, turning our backs upon the sea.
After descending the crest of a sand-hill we found ourselves fairly in
the desert. As far as we could see away to the limitless horizon was
sand—arid, parched red-brown sand without a vestige of herbage. The
wind that was blowing carried grains of it, which filled one's mouth and
tasted hot and gritty; again, impalpable atoms of sand were blown into
the corners of one's eyes, and, besides, this injury inflicted on the organ
of vision was calculated by no means to improve one's temper. However,
Omar told me that a beautiful and fruitful land lay beyond, therefore we
made light of these discomforts, and, after a march of three days, during
which time we were baked by day by the merciless sun and chilled at
night by the heavy dews, we at last came to the edge of the waterless
wilderness, and remained for some hours to rest.
My first glimpse of the "Dark Continent" was not a rosy one. As a well-
known writer has already pointed out, life with a band of native carriers
might for a few days be a diverting experience if the climate were good
and if there was no immediate necessity for hurry. But as things were it
proved a powerful exercise, especially when we commenced to traverse
the almost impenetrable bush by the native path, so narrow that two
men could not walk abreast.
Across a great dismal swamp where high trees and rank vegetation
grew in wondrous profusion we wended our way, day by day, amid the
thick white mist that seemed to continually envelop us. But it required a
little more than persuasion to make our carriers travel as quickly as Kou-
aga liked. At early dawn while the hush of night yet hung above the
forest, our guide would rise, stretch his giant limbs and kick up a sleep-
ing trumpeter. Then the tall, dark forest would echo with the boom of an
elephant-tusk horn, whose sound was all the more weird since it came
from between human jaws with which the instrument was decorated.
The crowd of blacks got up readily enough, but it was merely in order to
light their fires and to settle down to eat plantains. At length the horn
would sound again, but produce no result. The whole company still
squatted, eating and jabbering away, indifferent to every other sound.
The head man would be called for by Kouaga. "Why are your men not
ready? Know you not that the son of the great Naya is with us?" With a
deprecatory smile the head-man would make some excuse. He had hurt
22
his foot, or had rheumatism, and therefore he, and consequently his men,
would be compelled to rest that day. He would then be warned that if
not ready to march in five minutes, he would be carried captive into Mo
for the Great White Queen herself to deal with. In five minutes he would
return to Kouaga, saying that if the Grand Vizier would only give the
men a little more salt with their "chop" (food) that evening, they would
march.
Kouaga would then become furious, soundly rating everybody, and
declare that the Naya herself should deal with the whole lot as mutin-
eers; whereupon, seeing all excuses for further halt unavailing, loads
would be taken up, and within a few moments the whole string of half-
clad natives would go laughing and singing on the forward path.
The first belt of forest passed we entered a vast level land covered with
scrub, which Omar informed me was the border of the Debendu territ-
ory. Proceeding down a wide valley we came at length to the first inhab-
ited region. Every three or four miles we passed through a native vil-
lage—usually a single street of thirty or forty houses. Each house con-
sisted, as a rule, of three or four small sheds, facing inwards, and form-
ing a tiny courtyard. The huts were on built-up platforms, with hard
walls of mud, and roofs thatched with palm-leaves, while the front steps
were faced with a kind of red cement. In the middle of each centre of
habitation we found a tree with seats around it formed of untrimmed
logs, on which the elders and head-men of the village would sit, smoke,
and gravely discuss events. As we left each village to plunge boldly on-
ward through the bush we would pass the village fetish ground, well
defined by the decaying bodies of lizards and birds, a grinning human
skull or two, broken pots and pieces of rag fluttering in the wind, all
offered as propitiation to the presiding demon of the place, while away
in the bush, behind the houses, we saw the giant leaves of the plantain
groves that yielded the staple food of this primitive people.
Deeper and deeper we proceeded until we came into regular forest
scenery, where day after day we pushed our way through solemn shady
aisles of forest giants, whose upper parts gleamed far above the dense
undergrowth in white pillars against the grey-blue sky. Sometimes we
strode down a picturesque sunny glade, and at others struggled through
deep dark crypts of massive bamboo clumps. Here the noisome smell of
decaying vegetation nauseated us, for the air in those forest depths is
deadly. Beautiful scarlet wax-flowers would gleam high among the dark-
green foliage of the giant cotton-tree, whose stem would be covered with
orchids and ferns and dense wreaths of creeper, while many other
23
beautiful blossoms flourished and faded unseen. In that dark dismal
place there was an absence of animal life. Sometimes, however, by day
we would hear the tuneful wail of the finger-glass bird or an occasional
robin would chirrup, while at night great frogs croaked gloomily and the
sloth would shriek at our approach.
It was truly a toilsome, dispiriting march, as in single file we pushed
our way forward into the interior, and I confess I soon began to tire of
the monotony of the terrible gloom. But to all my questions Omar would
reply:
"Patience. In Africa we have violent contrasts always. To-day we are
toiling onward through a region of eternal night, but when we have tra-
versed the barrier that shuts out our country from the influence of
yours—then you shall see. What you shall witness will amaze you."
24
Chapter 5
THE GIANT'S FINGER.
For quite three weeks we pushed forward through the interminable
forest until one day we came to a small village beyond which lay a great
broad river glistening in the noon-day sun. It was the mighty Comoe. We
had entered the kingdom of Anno. In the village I saw traces of human
sacrifices, and Omar, in reply to a question, told me that although these
happy-looking natives were very skilful weavers and dyers who did a
brisk trade in fu, a bark cloth of excellent quality—which I found after-
wards they manufactured from the bark of a tree apparently of the same
species as the much-talked-of rokko of Uganda—they nevertheless at the
death of a chief sacrificed some of his slaves to "water the grave," while
the memory of the departed was also honoured with gross orgies which
lasted till everything eatable or drinkable in the village was consumed.
We only remained there a few hours, then embarked in three large ca-
noes that were moored to the bank awaiting us. The chief of the village
came to pay his respects to Omar, as the son of a ruling monarch, and
presented us with food according to the usual custom.
Soon, amid the shouts of the excited villagers who had all come down
to see us start, our canoes were pushed off, and the carriers, glad to be
relieved of their packs, took the paddles, and away we went gaily up the
centre of the winding river. Emerging as suddenly as we had from the
gloomy forest depths where no warmth penetrated, into the blazing
tropical sun was a sudden change that almost overcame me, for as we
rowed along without shelter the rays beat down upon us mercilessly.
The banks were for the most part low, although it was impossible to
say what height they were because of the lofty hedges of creeping plants
which covered every inch of ground from the water's edge to as high as
fifty feet above in some places, while behind them towered the black-
green forest with here and there bunches of brilliant flowers or glimpses
of countless grey trunks. Sometimes these trees, pressing right up to the
edge of the warm sluggish water, grew horizontally to the length of fifty
25
feet over the river. Creepers, vines, whip-like calamus, twisting lianes
and great serpent-like convolvuli grew in profusion over everything,
while the eye caught glimpses everywhere of gorgeous clouds of insects,
gaily-plumaged birds, paraquets, and monkeys swinging in their shaded
bowers.
Basking on the banks were crocodiles and hippopotami, while the
river itself swarmed with fish and water-snakes. And over all rose the
mist caused by heat and moisture, the death-dealing miasma of that
tropic world.
But all were in good spirits, for rowing was more pleasurable than
tramping in that dismal monotonous primeval forest that rose on either
side, therefore against the broad, slowly-flowing waters our carriers bent
to their paddles, grinning and joking the while.
Throughout that day Kouaga sat near us, smoking and thinking. Per-
haps the responsibilities of State weighed heavily upon him; perhaps he
was contemplating with trepidation the passage that would be necessary
through a country held by the enemies of Mo; at all events he was mor-
ose and taciturn, his dark face bearing a strange, stern look such as I had
never before noticed.
During the weeks I had been travelling up country I had embraced
every opportunity of improving my knowledge of the curious language
spoken by Omar and his mother's subjects, until I found I could under-
stand a large portion of a conversation and could even give directions to
our carriers in their own tongue.
Omar was in high spirits, eager, it seemed, to return to his own people.
He took a gun and some ammunition from one of the cases that Kouaga
had conveyed from England and gave us an exhibition of his skill with
the rifle. He was a dead shot. I had no idea he could aim so true. As we
sped past in our canoe he would raise his weapon from time to time and
pick off a bird upon the wing, or fire directly into the eye of some bask-
ing animal, causing it to utter a roar, lash its tail and disappear to die. He
seldom missed, and the accuracy of his aim elicited from the sable row-
ers low grunts of admiration.
A lazy and enjoyable week we thus spent in the ascent of the Comoe,
mostly through forest scenery or undulating grass-lands. By day our
rowers bent with rhythmic music to their paddles, and at evening we
would disembark, cook our food, and afterwards with Kouaga and my
friend I would sleep in our canoe upon the heap of leopard skins that
formed our couches. Here we were free from the pest of the myriad in-
sects we had encountered in the forest; and at night, under the brilliant
26
moon, the noble river and giant trees presented a fine picture of solitary
grandeur. Onward we pressed through the flourishing country of the
Jimini, where we saw many prosperous villages of large roomy houses
of rectangular form and reed thatched, wide tracts under cultivation
with well-kept crops of cotton and rice. Everywhere we passed, without
opposition, and with expressions of good-will from the natives.
One evening when the blood-red sun had sunk low in the water be-
hind us, we suddenly rounded a sharp bend of the river and there burst
upon us, rising on our right high into the clouds, the great snow-capped
crest of Mount Komono. Near its base it was hidden by a bank of cloud,
but above all was clear and bright, so that the summit had the appear-
ance of being suspended in mid-air.
"The Giant's Finger at last!" cried Omar, jumping up excitedly and
pointing at the mountain. "We leave the river a little higher up, and push
again across the bush a twelve days' journey until we come to the Volta,
which will take us forward to the boundary of Mo."
"The Volta!" I cried, remembering the incident at school when he had
answered correctly the master's question as to the estuary of that river,
and had been dubbed "the Guinea Pig." "Why could we not have ascen-
ded it from the sea?"
"Because we should, by so doing, pass nearly the whole distance
through the country of Prempeh, of Ashanti, one of our bitter foes. The
Adoo, the Anno, and the Jimini kings have long ago made blood-broth-
erhood with our chiefs, therefore we are enabled to pass in peace by this
route alone."
Before darkness fell we disembarked at a small village on the left bank,
the name of which I learnt was Tomboura, and after our evening meal
were given a hut in which to spend the night. Soon after dawn, however,
we heard Kouaga astir, giving rapid orders to the carriers, and when we
went out to go down to the canoes they were nowhere to be seen. We no-
ticed, however, that the carriers were preparing their loads which they
had no doubt landed during the night, and Omar, advancing towards
the Grand Vizier, asked:
"Why do we not ascend the river further? We must cross to the other
side if we would join the Great Salt Road."
"Dangers lurk there, O my Master," the negro answered, hitching his
burnouse about his shoulders. "We must travel by a circuitous route."
"Did not my mother command me to speed unto her?" Omar asked,
puzzled. "Is it not necessary that we should travel by the shortest path?"
"The safest is the shortest," Kouaga answered with a frown.
27
"But by following this bank we are turning our backs upon Mo. See!"
and he produced from his pocket an instrument which I did not know he
possessed, a cheap mariner's compass.
"Bah!" cried Kouaga in anger, after he had looked at it a long time.
"That clock of the white men has an evil spirit within. See! its trembling
finger points always in the direction of the Great Evil. It is bewitched.
Cast it away. Kouaga has already made fetish for this journey."
"But why should we travel in an entirely opposite direction to Mo?" I
argued, seeing that a crowd of grinning impish-looking carriers had
gathered around us, enjoying our controversy.
"For three-score years Kouaga has lived in the forest and on the
plains," he answered, turning to me. "He knows the direction of Mo."
"Oh, let him have his own way," Omar cried at last, finding persuasion
of no avail. Then turning to the Grand Vizier he said in a firm tone:
"Listen, Kouaga. If by your obstinacy we are delayed one single day, I
shall inform my mother of that fact, and you will assuredly lose your of-
fice and most likely your head also. Therefore act as you think fit. Omar,
Prince of Mo, has spoken."
"Kouaga bore the staff of the Great White Queen unto thee. He is the
trusted of the Naya, if not of her son," the negro answered, turning away.
But in that brief instant I noticed an expression on his face of relentless
cruelty. An expression such as one might expect to see upon the face of a
murderer.
Truth to tell, I had never liked Kouaga; now I instinctively hated him.
But ere he had strode a dozen paces he turned back smiling, saying:
"I mean no defiance to the Son of my Queen. He is in my charge, and I
will take him safely back unto Mo, the city with walls unbreakable, the
capital of the kingdom unconquerable."
"I shall act as I have decided," Omar answered with true princely
hauteur. "The rulers of Mo never depart from their word."
"Very well," the other answered laughing, at the same time lighting his
pipe with cool indifference. Then, glancing round to see that all was
ready, he shouted an order to the head-man and the string of carriers
moved away, jabbering and shouting, down the path into the dark
gloomy forest depths.
In ill-humour we followed. I must confess that towards Kouaga I en-
tertained an ill-defined feeling of distrust. Once or twice during that
day's march in the dull dispiriting gloom, almost every ray of daylight
being shut out by the thick canopy of creepers spreading from tree to
tree, I had caught Omar surreptitiously consulting his pocket compass,
28
and saw upon his face a look of anxiety. Yet, on the other hand, Kouaga
had become particularly jocular, and the carriers were now singing
snatches of songs, joking, and laughing good-humouredly at each other's
misfortunes, whereas on our journey from the coast to the river they had
generally preserved a sullen silence.
No. Try how I would I could not rid myself of the thought that there
was something very mysterious in Kouaga's actions.
29
Chapter 6
THE ROYAL JUJUS.
On the fifth day after we had left our canoes the Grand Vizier of Mo had
gone far forward along the line of carriers to speak with the head-man,
and Omar was walking immediately before me at the rear of the
procession.
As I pulled him by the sleeve he halted, and when the last carrier had
got out of hearing I confided to my friend my misgivings.
"Have you not noticed of late a change in Kouaga's manner towards
us?" I asked him. "At first he was deferential and submissive to your
every wish, but it occurs to me that of late his manner is overbearing,
and he watches us closely, as if fearing we might escape."
"Curiously enough," my friend replied, "I have for some days past had
similar thoughts. If he's playing any double game his life won't be worth
a moment's purchase when once we enter our own land."
"But you had perfect confidence in him," I observed.
"Yes. If my mother trusts him as her chief adviser I have no right to en-
tertain any suspicion of his fidelity," he said.
"True, but, after all, you are the Prince and heir. Surely he ought to
have followed your desire as to the route we should take."
"The route!" he cried. "Since we left the river we have travelled in these
cross-paths in such an amazing manner that at present I have no idea
where we are."
"The carriers have, or they would not be in such high spirits," I
observed.
"Yes, but the strangest part of the affair is that every man among them
fears to tell us anything. I have secretly questioned most of them as to
Kouaga's motive, and all I can glean is that the fetish-man at Tomboura
gathered them together and, after performing some of the usual rites and
sacrificing to our Crocodile-god Zomara, told them if a word were
spoken to us regarding our route or destination the dread god will meet
us in the forest path and devour all of us. Not one shall survive."
30
"And you believe this pagan humbug?" I exclaimed, in disgust.
He opened his dark eyes wide, regarding me in astonishment. I had
never before ridiculed his religion.
"The jujus around my neck preserve me from every evil, except those
worked by Zomara. He is the great god whose power only the fetish-
man can withstand. Slaves, princes, kings, all sacrifice to him. If we of-
fend him death or torture is inevitably our punishment."
"Do you think you've offended him?" I inquired.
"I know not," he sighed with a serious look. "If I have, then nothing
can save me; the fetish-man of Tomboura has worked evil against me."
"Well," I said, "this is my first experience of Africa, but it strikes me
very forcibly that these fetish-men of yours will do anything they are
paid to do. What was there to prevent Kouaga paying that hideous old
demon at Tomboura to utter his horrible incantations and so frighten our
carriers into silence?"
"Zomara is a terrible god. None dare tamper with him, or utter his
name in vain threats," Omar answered.
"Well, whoever he is I still stick to my opinion," I said. "Depend upon
it Kouaga is at the bottom of this conspiracy of silence."
Just at that moment the black face of that worthy, rendered darker by
the snow-white haick that surrounded it, appeared among the tangled
bamboos. He had missed us, and had come back to search. Yes, my sur-
mise seemed correct. He was watching us closely and trying to under-
stand our conversation.
That evening when we halted and the natives went into the bush to
collect fuel for the fire, I managed to take one or two of them aside and
secretly inquire our destination. But I got the same answer always.
"Zomara has tied our tongues. He commands us to be mute, or we
shall be destroyed to the last one."
To endeavour to learn anything from these simple-minded blacks
seemed useless. They would speak freely on every subject, indeed they
seemed fond of talking with one whose face was white, yet regarding
our journey they obeyed the command of the fetish-man to the very let-
ter. It is the same everywhere in West and Central Africa; the fetish-man
rules. What he says is more law than the word of kings. If he declares a
man or woman bewitched that person will assuredly be murdered before
the sun sets; if he orders the people of the village to perform a certain ac-
tion they will do it, even if death stares them in the face. They blindly be-
lieve that the fetish is all-powerful, and that the half naked dancing sav-
ages who administer it are endowed with supernatural powers.
31
That night, feeling tired out I threw myself down early near the camp
fire and slept soundly for several hours. But at length some unusual
sound awoke me, and when I opened my eyes I saw that the fire had
died down to one single flickering ember, which still blazing cast a fitful
light upon the boles of the forest giants around.
Scarcely had I opened my eyes when I became conscious of low whis-
pering in my vicinity. This thoroughly aroused me, and without stirring
my body I slowly turned my head, when to my astonishment I beheld
Kouaga, standing erect with arms folded beneath his white burnouse,
talking in an undertone to a dark-bearded stranger who also wore flow-
ing Arab garments and bore in his hand a long-barrelled flint-lock gun
with quaintly-inlaid stock. The man seemed older than the Grand Vizier
of Mo, for his beard was tinged with grey, and the brown hand that held
the gun was lean and bony.
I strained my ears to catch the drift of their earnest conversation, but
could not. It was tantalizing that they spoke in so low a tone, for the
stranger seemed to mumble into his beard, while Kouaga whispered
with his mouth turned from me. The presence of a stranger in our camp
was, to say the least, strange, for through those gloomy forest glades no
single traveller could journey. Omar had told me that for a person to at-
tempt to traverse that region alone would be merely suicide. My friend
was sleeping soundly at some distance from me, therefore I could not
awaken him without attracting attention. If only he would open his eyes,
I thought, he might recognize the new comer, either as friend or foe.
But no, he slept on as peacefully as if he were still in the cosy dormit-
ory at old Trigger's, with its blue and white counterpanes and windows
commanding a wide sweep of distant sea.
While I lay gazing upon my friend and hoping that he might open his
eyes, I suddenly heard the stranger raise his voice louder than before. It
was only for an instant, but in that moment upon my ear there fell three
words the English equivalents of which I understood.
They were "Seek the treasure!"
But I could distinguish nothing more, and in a few moments the two
men hurriedly snapped fingers, and the mysterious stranger disap-
peared noiselessly into the dark silent bush.
When the loud blasts from the ivory-horn, with its hideous ornament-
ation of human teeth, proclaimed the advent of another day I took Omar
aside and told him of what I had witnessed and overheard. After I had
described the stranger he said:
32
"I know not who he may be. It is evident, however, we are travelling in
the opposite direction to Mo, therefore we will go no further. I will com-
mand Kouaga to return to Tomboura, cross the river, and press forward
over the hills of Dabagakha to the Black Volta."
"And if he refuses?"
"Then we will go alone."
An hour later, when we had eaten our plantains and the usual babel
was proceeding which was always precursory of a start being made, my
companion strode up to Kouaga with a look of fierce determination
upon his face, saying:
"Give ear to my words. I am Omar, son of the Naya, the Great White
Queen, before whose wrath all nations tremble."
"Speak. I listen," answered the giant negro, with a look of surprise
upon his ugly countenance.
"I will go no further along this path. You, the head-man and the carri-
ers shall return with me to the bank of the Comoe, otherwise my mother
shall punish you for disobeying my orders. All who dare go forward
from this moment shall be sacrificed at the yam feast and the dogs shall
eat their entrails. These are my words."
"Then whither would you go from Tomboura?" asked Kouaga, appar-
ently astonished at Omar's sudden decision.
"I will only approach Mo by the Great Salt Road."
"It is impossible. There is fighting in the hills, for the Karaboro and the
Dagari are at war."
"And what matters, pray, since they are both our allies?" Omar asked.
For a moment the negro was nonplussed, but with a broad grin show-
ing his even row of teeth, he said:
"The bird goes not into the serpent's lair, neither does the son of the
Queen enter the country of her enemies."
"I have already given tongue to my decision," my friend replied.
"Advance, and each of your heads shall fall beneath the keen doka of
Gankoma, the executioner."
Kouaga, hearing these words, set his teeth fiercely, and glancing at us
with his fiery eyes, the whites of which were bloodshot, retorted:
"Recede, and we will carry you forward, bound as a slave."
"This is a threat!" cried Omar, drawing himself up to his full height
and stretching forth his arm. "You, whom my mother raised from a
palace-slave, thus threaten me! Let it be thus, but I warn you that if you
ever set foot across the borders of Mo, your head shall be set upon the
palace wall as a warning to disobedient slaves." Then, turning to me, and
33
waving back the crowd of carriers who had collected and stood open-
mouthed around us, he said, "Come, Scars, we will return. I have thrice
traversed the path from Tomboura to the Great Salt Road, and can follow
it without a guide."
Then, calling down the curse of Zomara, the dreaded, upon them all,
he turned on his heel and walked down the narrow path we had tra-
versed on the previous night, while, with a final glance of triumph at the
irate negro, I followed.
Scarcely had we gone fifty yards, however, before a dozen carriers,
acting upon orders from Kouaga, had rushed after us, seized us, and
dragged us back to him despite our desperate struggles.
"So you defy me!" the negro cried in a paroxysm of rage, as Omar was
brought up. "This is because I was fool enough to allow your white-faced
friend to accompany you. Our country is no place for whites, but he will
make a good sacrifice to Zomara when our journey is ended. You have
both refused to accompany us, therefore we must use force." Then, turn-
ing to the half-naked savages who held us, he said: "Bind them, and tie
them in their hammocks. Let not their bonds be loosened until our march
be ended, for both are my prisoners." And he laughed triumphantly at
our discomfiture.
"You shall pay for this insult with your life," Omar cried angrily.
"Take off his European clothes, and let his string of royal jujus be
burned. Henceforth he is a slave, as also is his white companion."
Next moment twenty ready hands tore from Omar most of his well-
worn clothes, and although he fought with all the strength of which he
was capable, his necklet of jujus, the magical charms that protected the
Queen's son from every evil, was ruthlessly spat upon and destroyed by
the excited natives, together with his clothes.
Then, after each of us had been tied in a hammock with our hands be-
hind our backs, we were lifted by four stalwart bearers and carried for-
ward at a brisk pace towards an unknown bourne.
It was evident that we were not going to Mo, and it was equally evid-
ent too, that Kouaga, whom we had trusted implicitly, was our bitter
enemy.
34
Chapter 7
SAMORY'S STRONGHOLD.
Through dense dark forests and over great open grass-lands, passing
several villages, we were carried forward many days, still bound and
never allowed to have our hands free except during our meals.
The face of Kouaga grew more brutal and fierce as we proceeded, and
he urged on the carriers until we found ourselves travelling at a pace
that for African natives was amazing.
Omar spoke little. He was always pre-occupied and thoughtful. He
had told me that he now regretted having brought me with him from
England, but I assured him that our misfortunes were not of our own
seeking, and urged him to be of good cheer.
Truth to tell, my heart was full of dark forebodings. I saw in the ugly
countenance of Kouaga expressions of deadly hatred, and I knew that
they were of ill-portent. Yet to escape in that deadly bush, extending for
hundreds and hundreds of miles, dark, monotonous and impenetrable,
meant certain death even if we eluded the watchful vigilance of this
muscular negro.
One day, when passing through a forest village, a half-naked savage
rushed towards us brandishing his spear and uttering a loud yell, but
whether expressive of hatred or joy I knew not. Suddenly, as he ap-
proached the hammock in which Omar was lying, my friend addressed
him in some tongue that was strange to me, but to which the native
answered readily.
"As I thought, Scars!" Omar shouted to me in English a moment later.
"We have travelled away from Mo, crossed Tieba's territory, and have
now entered the country of the great Mohammedan chief Samory, my
nation's bitterest enemy. It was he who seized my father by a ruse and
sent his head back to my mother as a hideous souvenir."
"But what object has Kouaga in bringing us here?" I asked.
"I cannot imagine," he answered. "Unless he travelled to England, for
the sole purpose of delivering me into the hands of our enemies. Three
35
times within the last five years has Samory attempted to invade our
country, but each time has been repulsed with a loss that has partially
paralysed his power. All along the right bank of the Upper Niger his
bands of hirelings and mercenaries, whom we call Sofas, are constantly
raiding for slaves. Indeed Samory's troops are the fiercest and most mer-
ciless in this country. They are the riff-raff of the West Soudan and are a
terror to friend and foe, a bar to the peaceful settlement of all lands with-
in the range of their devastating expeditions."
"Do they make raids towards your country?" I inquired, for I had
heard long ago of this notorious slave-dealing chief.
"Yes, constantly. They are pitiless marauders who lay waste whole
kingdoms and transform populous districts into gloomy solitudes. While
on my way from Mo to England we passed through Sati, a large market
town at the convergence of several caravan routes, which was only three
months before a prosperous and wealthy place situated fifty miles south
of our border. We found everything had been raided by the Sofas, who
had sacked, burned or destroyed what they were unable to take away.
Heaps of cinders marked the sites of former homesteads, the ground was
strewn with potsherds, rice and other grain trodden under foot, while
our horses moved forward knee deep in ashes. The whole land, lately
very rich, prosperous and thickly peopled, was a melancholy picture of
utter desolation."
"Do you think we have actually fallen into Samory's hands?" I asked.
"I fear so."
"But is not Kouaga Grand Vizier of Mo? Surely he would not dare to
take us through the enemy's land," I said.
"Do you not remember that when he met us at Eastbourne he forbade
us to inform Makhana of our intended departure?" he answered. "He
had some object in securing our silence and getting us away from Eng-
land secretly. It now appears more than probable that my mother has
dismissed and banished him, and he has gone over to our enemy,
Samory, who desires to seize our country."
"In that case our position is indeed serious," I observed. "We must do
something to escape."
"No," he said. "We cannot escape. Let's put on a bold front, and if we
find ourselves prisoners of the slave-raiding chief, I, at least, will show
him that I am heir to the Emerald Throne of Mo."
As each day dawned we still held upon our way, until at length, under
a broiling noon-day sun, we crossed a wide stretch of fertile grass-land
where cattle were grazing, and there rose high before us the white
36
fortified walls of a large town of flat-roofed Moorish-looking houses. It
was, we afterwards learnt, called Koussan, one of Samory's principal
strongholds.
As we approached the open gate, flanked on either side by watch-
towers and guarded by soldiers wearing Arab fezes and loose white gar-
ments, a great rabble came forth to meet us. We heard the din of tom-
toms beaten within the city, joyous shouts, and loud ear-piercing blasts
upon those great horns formed out of elephant tusks.
Thus, in triumph, amid the howls and execrations of the mob, Omar,
son of Sanom, and myself, were marched onward through the gate and
up a steep narrow winding street, where the solidly-built houses were
set close together to obtain the shade, to the market-place. Here, amid
the promiscuous firing of long flint-lock guns and quaint ancient pistols,
such as one sees in curiosity shops at home, a further demonstration was
held, our carriers themselves infected by the popular enthusiasm, seem-
ing also to lose their senses. They heaped upon Omar every indignity,
scoffed and spat at him, while my own pale face arousing the ire of the
fanatical Mohammedan populace, they denounced me as an infidel ac-
cursed of Allah, and urged my captors to kill me and give my flesh to the
dogs.
Truly we were in pitiable plight.
I looked at Omar, but heedless of all their threats and jeers, he walked
with princely gait. His hands were tied behind his back, his head erect,
and his eyes flashed with scorn upon those who sought his death.
Presently, turning sharply to the left, we found ourselves in another
square which we crossed, entering a great gateway guarded by soldiers,
and as soon as we were inside the heavy iron-studded doors closed with
an ominous clang. I glanced round at the thick impregnable walls and
knew that we were in the Kasbah, or citadel. Gaily-dressed soldiers were
leaning or squatting everywhere as we crossed the several court-yards,
one after the other, until, by the direction of one of the officials who had
joined us on entering, we were led through a low arched door, and
thence a dozen soldiers who had come forward hurried us down a flight
of dark damp steps into a foul noisome chamber below.
Struggles and protestations were useless. We were pushed forward in-
to a deep narrow cell lit only by a tiny crack in the paving of the court
above and the door quickly bolted upon us.
"Well, this is certainly a dire misfortune," I said, when we had both
walked round inspecting the black dank walls of our prison. "I wonder
what fate is in store for us?"
37
"Though they destroyed my jujus, they cannot invoke the curses of Zo-
mara upon me," he said. "The Crocodile-god will not hear any enemies of
the Naya."
"But have you no idea whatever of the motive Kouaga has had in
bringing you hither?" I asked.
"Not the slightest," he answered, seating himself at last on the stone
bench to rest. "It is evident, however, that he is a traitor in the pay of
Samory. On each occasion when the Moslem chief endeavoured to con-
quer our country, it was Kouaga who assumed the generalship of our
troops; it was Kouaga who fought valiantly for his queen with his own
keen sword; it was Kouaga who drove back the enemy and urged our
hosts to slaughter them without mercy; and it was Kouaga who, with
fiendish hatred, put the prisoners to the torture. In him my mother had a
most trusted servant."
"He doesn't seem very trustworthy now," I observed. "It seems to me
we are caught like rats in a trap."
"True," he said. "We are beset by dangers, but may the blessings of
their Allah turn to curses upon their heads. It may be that our ignomini-
ous situation will not satisfy the malice that Samory has conceived
against me, but if a single hair of the head of either of us is injured, Zo-
mara, the Crocodile-god, will punish those who seek our discomfiture."
It occurred to me that it was all very well to speak in this strain, but as
no man is a prince except in his own country, it seemed idle to expect
mercy or pity. Omar was in prison for some unknown offence, and I was
held captive with a well-remembered threat from Kouaga that my life
should be sacrificed.
For six hours we remained without food, but when the light above had
quite faded, three soldiers with clanging swords unbarred the door and
pushed through some water in an earthen vessel and some fufu, a kind of
dumpling made of mashed African potato. During the night, disturbed
by vermin of all sorts, including some horrible little snakes, we slept
little, and at dawn we were again visited by our captors. The next day
and the next passed uneventfully. For exercise we paced our cell times
without number, and when tired would seat ourselves on the rough
stone bench and calmly discuss the situation.
The Naya, the mysterious Great White Queen, had ordered Omar to
return with all haste, yet already two moons had run their course since
we had landed in Africa. This troubled my companion even more than
the fact of being betrayed into the hands of his enemies.
38
The tiny streak of light that showed high above our heads grew bright-
er towards noon, then began slowly to decline. Before the shadows had
lengthened in the court above, however, the sound of our door being un-
barred aroused us from our lethargy, and a moment later, three soldiers
entered and told us to prepare to go before the great ruler Samory.
Omar, attired only in a small garment of bark-cloth, took no heed of his
toilet, therefore we at once announced our readiness to leave the loath-
some place with its myriad creeping things, and it was with a feeling of
intense relief that a few minutes later we ascended to the blessed light of
day.
Marched between a small posse of soldiers, we crossed the court to a
larger and more handsome square, decorated in Arab style with horse-
shoe arches and wide colonnades, until at the further end a great curtain
of crimson velvet was drawn aside and we found ourselves in a spacious
hall, wherein many gorgeously attired persons had assembled and in the
centre of which was erected a great canopy of amaranth-coloured silk
supported by pillars of gold surmounted by the crescent. Beneath, reclin-
ing on a divan, slowly fanned by a dozen gaudily-attired negroes, was a
dark-faced, full-bearded man of middle age, whose black eyes regarded
us keenly as we entered. He was dressed in a robe of bright yellow silk,
and in his turban there glittered a single diamond that sparkled and
gleamed with a thousand iridescent rays. His fat brown hand was loaded
with rings, and jewels glittered everywhere upon his belt, his sword, and
his slippers of bright green.
It was the notorious and dreaded chieftain, Samory.
39
Chapter 8
THE SECRET OF THE QUEEN.
As we were led forward to the space in front of the divan all eyes were
directed towards us. The glitter and pomp of the merciless slave-raider's
court was dazzling. Before their ruler all men salaamed. His officers sur-
rounding him, watched every movement of his face, and the four-score
slaves behind him stood mute and motionless, ready to do his bidding at
any instant.
When our feet touched the great carpet spread before him, and we hal-
ted, he raised himself to a sitting posture, fixing his dark, gleaming eyes
upon us. At sight of Omar a sudden frown of displeasure crossed his fea-
tures, but an instant later a grim smile of triumph lit his sinister face.
Apparently he was waiting for us to bow before him, but Omar had
forbidden me to do so.
"And who, pray, art thou, that thou deignest not to bend the knee be-
fore me?" he cried, in anger that his people should witness a slur thus
cast upon his power.
"I am Omar, son of the Naya of Mo," my companion answered, folding
his arms resolutely, and regarding the potentate with supreme disdain.
"Princes do not make obeisance to any but their equals."
"Am I not thine equal, then, thou son of offal?" cried Samory.
"In strength thou art, possibly, but not by birth. In order to protect thy
country against the white men thou hast sought to make palaver with Pr-
empeh of Ashanti, but I would remind thee that the rulers of Mo have
never besought any aid of their neighbours."
"Thou speakest well, lad," he said thoughtfully. "Thine is a mighty
kingdom, but by peace or war I will rule over it."
"Never, while I live," answered Omar with pride.
"But thou art the last of thy race. If thou diest—what then?"
"If I die, then every man in Mo will seek blood revenge upon thee, and
Zomara will guide them into this, thy land, and arm them with spears of
fire."
40
"I care nought for thy Naya nor thy pagan Crocodile-god," exclaimed
the Mohammedan chief impatiently. "Bow unto my divan, or of a verity
my slaves shall compel thee."
"I refuse."
"May thine entrails be burned," cried Samory in anger, and raising his
hand he ordered the guards of the divan to cast us both to earth before
him.
They threw us down, and their ruler, rising, placed his foot firmly on
the neck of the heir to the throne of Mo, saying in a loud voice:
"As I hold thee thus within my power, so also will I, ere many moons
have run, hold thy country. Cursed by the Prophet may be thy detested
race. There is neither peace nor friendship, there is neither gratitude nor
love in the people of Samory, and they shall be the first to curse thee.
When I enter Mo every day shall the knife of the executioner be fed with
blood; thy cities shall mourn the loss of their sages, husbands their
wives, wives their children, and children their fathers. The country shall
be devastated to its most northerly limits and it shall be rendered a wil-
derness of silence and sorrow."
Then withdrawing his foot, amid the plaudits of his crowd of fierce-
looking courtiers, Omar sprang to his feet in rage, and facing him, cried:
"The men of Mo are forewarned already against thy designs, notwith-
standing that our ex-Grand Vizier Kouaga, the son of a dungheap who
betrayed us hither, hath joined thine accursed ranks. The soldiers of the
Naya are still anxious for the fourth time to try conclusions with thy
white-cloaked rabble. Come, march forward into Mo—thou wilt never
return."
"Thou defiest me, even as thy mother hath done," he roared, his hand
upon the bejewelled hilt of his curved blade. "Were it not for one fact I
would smite thee dead."
"I fear thee not," Omar answered with a calmness that astounded me.
"Sooner or later thou wilt, I suppose, order my death, therefore the soon-
er the better."
"Why insultest thou our race by bringing hither with thee this dog of a
Christian?" the chief enquired, looking at me with a terrible expression of
hatred.
"He cometh as my companion," replied Omar briefly.
"As thy companion he shall accompany thee to the grave," Samory
cried fiercely, his eyes swimming in malice.
"So be it," answered Omar, with a smile of contempt. "May Zomara
curse thy work."
41
"Speak, infidel!" Samory said, fixing his fiery glance upon me.
"Whence comest thou?"
"From England," I answered briefly, in fear.
"From that country where dwell the accursed of Allah," he said, as if to
himself. "They are pig-eaters who despise the Book of Everlasting Will
and declare our great Prophet—on whom may be everlasting peace—to
be a false one. Accursed be thy country, infidel! May thy people suffer
every torment of Al-Hâwiyat; may their food be offal, and may they
slake their thirst with boiling pitch. The white men have sent their mes-
sengers to me time after time to urge me to ally myself with them, but it
shall never be recorded that Samory besought the assistance of infidels to
extend his kingdom. We fight beneath the green banner of Al-Islâm, and
will continue to do so until we die. Ere long, the day of the Jehad will
dawn; then the forces of Al-Islâm will unite to sweep from the face of the
earth those white parasites who seek the overthrow of the Faithful. Allah
is merciful, and his servant is patient," added the old scoundrel piously.
There arose, as if with one voice from those assembled, the words:
"Samory hath spoken! Allah send him blessings abundant!" and as they
did so each fingered his amulets, little scraps of parchment whereon
verses from the Korân were written in sprawly Arabic. At that moment,
too, I noticed, for the first time, that right opposite us was the grinning,
evil face of the black giant, Kouaga, the man who had so foully betrayed
us.
We exchanged glances, and he laughed at us in triumph.
"Dost thou intend to keep me as hostage?" Omar asked his mother's
enemy boldly.
"Until thou hast performed the service for which I caused thee to jour-
ney hither with our good Kouaga."
"The traitor's head shall fall," Omar blurted out with pardonable pas-
sion. Then he asked, "Thou desirest a service of me. Well, what is it?"
There was a silence so deep that a feather if dropped upon the cool
floor of polished marble would have made audible sound, and Samory
slowly seated himself.
"Give ear unto my words," he said a few moments later, in a clear
voice, as he stroked his beard with his fat hand. "I know that within thine
impenetrable kingdom many undreamed-of mysteries and wealth un-
told lie concealed. This is common report. Thine ancestors in their
treasure-house, the whereabouts of which is known only to the Naya
and to thyself, have deposited heaps of jewels and great quantities of
gold, the spoils of war through many generations. I desire to ascertain,
42
and I will ascertain from thine own lips, the exact spot where we may
seek that treasure."
A look of abject bewilderment crossed Omar's features, and he turned
to me, saying in English:
"All is now plain, Scars. Because only the Naya herself is aware of the
spot where the treasure of the Sanoms is deposited, my mother, on the
eve of my departure for England, divulged to me the secret, fearing lest
she should die before my return. Kouaga was the only person who knew
that my mother had thus spoken to me, and he has informed Samory
and joined him for the purpose of obtaining the treasure."
"Is not Kouaga aware of the spot where the treasure is hidden?" I
asked hurriedly.
"No. He came to England at Samory's suggestion to convey me hither
so that they could get the secret from me. On gaining the information it
is apparently their intention to make a raid, with Kouaga leading, in or-
der to secure our wealth."
But Samory himself interrupted our consultation.
"Speak not with thine infidel companion," he roared. "Answer me. Tell
me where this treasure of the Sanoms lieth."
"The son of the Naya is no traitor," he answered with hauteur.
"If thou speakest thou shalt have thy liberty. Indeed, if thou deemest
fit thou shalt join the expedition into Mo, and share with us the loot," the
chief urged.
"Thy words insult me," cried Omar, full of wrath. "I will never share
with thee, who murdered my father, that which is my birthright."
"Very well," answered Samory indifferently. "Thou needest not. We
will take it, kill thy mother and annex thy country. Already the whole
kingdom is ripe for revolt, and we shall quickly accomplish the rest. I
had thee brought hither because thou alone holdest a secret I desire to
know—the secret of the royal Treasure-house, and——"
"And I refuse to disclose it," my companion said, interrupting the
gaudily-attired potentate.
"If thou wilt not speak willingly, then my executioners shall force thee
to loosen thine obstinate tongue's strings," Samory cried, frowning, while
the hideous face of the black traitor grinned horribly.
"The secret of the queen is inviolable. My lips are sealed," answered
Omar with resolution.
"Then my executioners shall unseal them."
"If I cannot save my country from desolation at the hands of thy law-
less bands," exclaimed my friend, "I can at least preserve from thee the
43
treasure accumulated by my ancestors to be used only for the emancipa-
tion of our country should evil befall it. Until the present, Mo hath been
held against all invaders by the hosts ready at the hands of my mother
and her predecessors, and even now if thou marchest over my dead
body thy path will not be clear of those who will oppose thee. Remem-
ber," he added, "the army of the Naya possesses many pom-poms1 of the
English, each of which is equal in power to the fire of one of thy bat-
talions. With them our people will sweep away thine hosts like grains of
sand before the sirocco."
"Darest thou oppose my will?" cried Samory, rising in a sudden ebulli-
tion of wrath.
"Thy will ruleth me not," Omar answered, his face pale and calm. "A
Sanom never betrayed his trust, even though he suffered death."
"Very well, offspring of sebel," he hissed between his white teeth. "We
will test thy resolution, and cause thee to eat thy brave words. Thy body
shall be racked by the torture, and thy flesh given unto the ants to eat."
Then, turning to the executioner, a big negro with face hideously scarred
by many cuts, who stood at his side leaning upon his razor-edged doka,
he added:
"You know my will. Loosen the lad's tongue. Let it be done here, so
that we may watch the effect of thy persuasion."
And all laughed loudly at their ruler's grim humour, while twenty
slaves of the executioner rushed away in obedience to their master's
command to bring in the instruments of torture.
I turned to Omar. He still stood erect, with arms folded. But his face
was pale as death.
1.Maxim guns. They are called "pom-poms" by the African natives on account of the
noise they cause when fired.
44
Chapter 9
CONDEMNED TO THE TORTURE.
Eager to witness the agony of the son of the powerful Naya of Mo, the
crowd of evil-faced men in silken robes who surrounded their brutal
chief watched with lively anticipation the preparations that were in a
few moments in active progress. The black slaves of the weirdly-dressed
executioner first carried in a large blazing brazier, and rolling away the
thick crimson carpet placed it upon the floor of polished marble in front
of Samory's divan.
A slave boy had, in response to a sign from the great chief, lit his long
pipe with its bejewelled mouthpiece, and as he half reclined on the couch
he smoked on calmly, regarding the execution of his orders with undis-
guised satisfaction.
The slaves, each wearing black loin-cloths with bunches of sable os-
trich feathers on their heads that waved like funeral-plumes as they
walked, brought in grim-looking instruments of iron like blacksmiths'
tools, strange spiked chains, fetters with sharp spikes on the inside, and
many curiously-contrived irons, each devised to cause some horrible tor-
ture, each red with rust, the rust of blood.
As my eyes fell upon them I involuntarily shuddered. Omar, my loyal
friend, was about to be murdered by these inhuman brutes, and I knew
that I was powerless to defend him from their fiendish wrath. Already
he was standing in the grip of two black-plumed slaves, while no at-
tempt had been made to secure me. I stood near him, breathlessly
anxious, wondering what the end would be.
Presently, when all was ready, a silence fell. Then, the deep voice of
Samory was heard, asking the final question:
"Speak, son of a dog," he cried, addressing my unhappy friend. "Wilt
thou tell us where the secret Treasure-house of the Sanoms is situated?"
"No," Omar answered, flashing at his enemy a look of defiance. "I will
not betray my mother's secret to my father's murderer."
45
"Then use thy powers of persuasion," he said, lifting his hand towards
the executioner. "Unseal his lips, and that quickly."
"Chief of our race, whose praises rise earliest and most frequent in the
presence of Allah, I am ready to obey thee," answered the hideous func-
tionary. So saying, he took up a long iron instrument, fashioned like a
pair of pincers and thrust it into the burning coals.
"Vain, O persecutor," cried Omar in a loud voice. "Vain are thy tortures
against the will power of the son of the Great White Queen, whose veins
are filled with royal blood. Tremble at thy doom, a myriad of my race are
determined against thee, and thy throne noddeth over thine head. The
fiend of darkness is let loose, and the powers of evil shall prevail."
"Hold thy peace," shouted the Moslem chieftain, enraged. "Thine own
blood shall make satisfaction for those of my race slain by thy warriors
when last we marched upon thy kingdom."
"The curses of Takhar, of Tuirakh, and of Zomara, dreaded by all men,
be upon thee," my companion cried, lifting his voice until it sounded
loud and clear through the vaulted hall, and pointing to the slave-raid-
ing king whose power no European influence could break. "May the ven-
geance of my injured blood fasten upon thy life."
Those around Samory looked aghast as Omar uttered these ominous
predictions in the spirit of prophecy, for they perceived he spoke as he
was moved, and the whole council seemed dismayed. Silence and
amazement for a few moments prevailed. Omar alone appeared uncon-
cerned at his fate.
Quickly, however, the executioner bent over his fire, and as the
wretched victim of the potentate's hatred was dragged to a kind of
square iron frame that lay upon the floor, thrown down, and fastened
thereto by his wrists and ankles, the fiendish-looking hireling took the
long pincers, now red hot, and tore from Omar's shoulder a great piece
of flesh.
A piercing scream of agony rent the air, mingled with the triumphant
jeers of the excited councillors, but my friend's teeth were tightly
clenched and his face blanched to the lips. Again and again cries of
agony escaped him as the red-hot iron touched him, although he exerted
every nerve to maintain a dogged silence. From his back, shoulders, and
chest the brutal negro ruthlessly tore pieces, holding them up to the as-
sembled court in triumph, while the air was filled with the nauseating
odour of burning flesh.
The sight was so sickening that I turned faint, and with difficulty pre-
vented myself from falling.
46
"Wilt thou now impart to us the knowledge that we seek?" asked
Samory in ringing tones that sounded above the whispered exultations
of his courtiers.
"Never," gasped Omar in a weak voice, his eyes starting from his head.
"Life cannot be unchequered by the frowns of fate, but death must bring
dumbness to my lips. Caution, when besmeared in blood, is no longer
virtue, or wisdom, but wretched and degenerate cowardice; no, never let
him that was born to execute judgment secure his honours by cruelty
and oppression. Hath not thy Korân told thee that fear and submission is
a subject's tribute, yet mercy is the attribute of Allah, and the most pleas-
ing endowment of the vicegerents of earth."
"From the lips of a fool there sometimes falleth wisdom," Samory said
impatiently. "Thou hast deemed it wise to thwart the will of one whose
wish is law, therefore ere the bud of thy youth unfolds in the fulness of
manhood, thou shalt be cut off as the husbandman destroyeth the deadly
serpent in the field."
"Is there no way to build up the seat of justice and mercy but in
murder?" cried Omar. At a signal from the slave-raider, however, the
scarred-face brute again withdrew the pincers from the fiery brazier, and
applied them once more to the wretched prince's back.
He winced and turned with such strength that his limbs, fettered as
they were in bonds of blood-smeared iron, cracked, while the muscles
and veins stood out knotted like cords. The spotless marble of the floor
was stained by a dark red pool, becoming larger every moment as the
life-blood dripped slowly from beneath.
The scene was revolting. I placed my hands over my eyes to shut out
from my gaze the horrible contortions of the victim's face.
Yet those assembled were gleeful and excited. Omar was the son of
their unconquerable enemy, and they delighted in witnessing his humili-
ation and agony. Times without number the negro with the strangely-
marked visage seared the flesh of my helpless companion; then in re-
sponse to his orders his black-plumed slaves drew tighter the bonds that
confined his ankles and wrists until the sound of the crushing of bones
and sinews reached our ears.
Again a loud shriek echoed along the high-roofed hall. Omar was no
longer able to bear the excruciating pain in silence.
"Courage," I cried in English, heedless of the consequences. "Courage.
Let this fiend see that he cannot rule us as he does his cringing slaves."
47
"Think! think of yourself, Scars!" he gasped with extreme difficulty. "If
they kill me, forgive me for bringing you from England. I—I did not
know that this trap had been prepared for me."
"I forgive you everything," I answered, glancing for a moment at his
white, blood-smeared countenance. "Bear up. You must—you shall not
die."
But even as I spoke, the executioner, who had been bending over the
fire, withdrew with his tongs a band of iron with long sharp spikes on
the inside now red with heat, and as the slaves released the pressure
upon his wrists and ankles the sinister-faced negro placed the terrible
band around the victim's waist and by means of a screw quickly drew it
so tight that the red-hot spikes ran into the flesh, causing it to smoke and
emit a hissing noise that was horrible.
Again poor Omar squirmed in pain and gave vent to a shrill, agonised
cry. But it was not repeated.
Everyone stood eager and open-mouthed, and even the villainous
Samory rose from his divan to more closely watch the effect of the fearful
torture now being applied.
The victim's upturned face was white as the marble pavement. From
the corners of the mouth a thin red stream oozed, and the closed eyes
and imperceptible breathing showed plainly that no torture, however in-
human, could cause him further agony. He had lapsed into
unconsciousness.
"Hold!" cried Samory at last, seeing the executioner about to prepare
yet another torture. "Take the pagan author of malice from my sight, let
his wounds be dressed, and apply thy persuasion unto him again to-
morrow at sundown. He shall speak, I vow before the great Allah and
Mahomet, the Prophet of the Just. He shall tell us where the treasure li-
eth hidden."
"O, light of the earth," cried one of the councillors, a white-bearded
sage who wore a robe of crimson silk beautifully embroidered. "Though
the hand of time hath not yet spread the fruits of manhood upon this
youth's cheeks, yet neither the splendour of thy court nor the words
from thy lips could steal from the young prince the knowledge of him-
self. He hath cursed thee with the three curses of the pagans Takhar,
Tuirakh, and Zomara, the Crocodile-god, held in awe by all."
"Well, thinkest thou that I fear the empty threats of a youth whose hos-
tility towards me arises from the fact that I captured his father on the
Great Salt Road, and smiting off his head, sent it as a present to the
Naya?" asked Samory in indignation.
48
But as the black-plumed slaves removed the inanimate form of Omar,
the aged councillor stepped forward boldly, saying:
"I perceive, O source of light, that the dark clouds of evil are gathering
to disturb the hours of futurity; the spirits of the wicked are preparing
the storm and the tempest against thee; but—the volumes of Fate are
torn from my sight, and the end of thy troubles is unknown."
The councillors exchanged glances and stood aghast, but Samory, livid
with rage, sprang from his divan and commenced to upbraid the aged
seer for his words of warning. I was not, however, allowed to listen to
the further discussion of the old man's prophecy, being hurried by two
of the torturer's slaves back to my underground cell, where I remained
alone for many hours awaiting Omar, who, I presumed, was being
brought back to consciousness in another part of the great impregnable
fortress, the mazes of which were bewildering.
49
Chapter 10
ZOMARA.
In darkness and anxiety I remained alone for many days in the foul sub-
terranean prison. Had the fiendish tortures been repeated upon my hap-
less friend, I wondered; or had he succumbed to the injuries already in-
flicted? Hour by hour I waited, listening to the shuffling footsteps of my
gaolers, but only once a day there came a black slave to hand me my
meagre ration of food and depart without deigning to give answer to any
of my questions.
I became sick with anxiety, and at last felt that I must abandon all hope
of again seeing him. I was alone in the midst of the fiercest and most fan-
atical people of the whole of Africa, a people whose supreme delight it
was to torture the whites that fell into their hands as vengeance for the
many expeditions sent against them. Through those dismal days when
silence and the want of air oppressed me, I remembered the old adage
that when Hope goes out Death smiles and stalks in, but fortunately, al-
though wearied and dejected, I did not quite abandon all thought of ever
again meeting my companion. The hope of seeing him, of being able to
escape and get into the land of Mo, was now the sole anchor of my life,
yet as the monotonous hours passed, the light in the chink above grew
brighter and time after time gradually faded into pitch darkness, I felt
compelled to admit that my anticipations were without foundation, and
that Omar, the courageous descendant of a truly kingly race, was dead.
In the dull dispiriting gloom I sat hour after hour on the stone bench
encrusted with the dirt of years, calmly reflecting upon the bright, happy
life I had been, alas! too eager to renounce, and told myself with sorrow
that, after all, old Trigger's school, or even the existence of a London
clerk, was preferable to imprisonment in Samory's stronghold. Many
were the means by which I sought to make time pass more rapidly, but
the hours had leaden feet, and while the tiny ray struggled through
above, my mind was constantly racked by bitter thoughts of the past,
and a despairing dread of the hopeless future.
50
One morning, however, when I had lost all count of the days of my
solitary confinement, my heart was suddenly caused to leap by hearing
the unusual sound of footsteps, and a few moments later my door was
thrown open and I was ordered by my captors to come forth.
I rose, and following them unwillingly, wondering what fate had been
decided for me, ascended the steep flight of steps to the courtyard above,
wherein I found a crowd of Arab nomads in their white haicks and
burnouses. Samory was also there, and before him, still defiant and ap-
parently almost recovered from his wounds, stood my friend Omar.
I sprang towards him with a loud cry of joy, and our recognition was
mutually enthusiastic, as neither of us had known what fate had over-
taken the other; but ere he could relate how he had fared, the Mo-
hammedan chief lifted his hand, and a dead silence fell on those
assembled.
"Omar, son of the accursed Naya whom may Eblis smite with the fiery
sword, give ear unto my words," he said, in a loud, harsh voice. "Thou
hast defied me, and will not impart to me the secret of the Treasure-
house, even though I offer thee thy freedom. I have spared thee the
second torture in order that a fate more degrading and more terrible
shall be thine. Hearken! Thou and thy friend are sold to these Arab
slavers for this single copper coin."
For an instant he showed us the coin in the palm of his brown hand,
then tossed it far away from him with a gesture of disgust.
"Ye are both sold," he continued, "sold for the smallest coin, to be
taken to Kumassi as slaves for their pagan sacrifice."
At his words we both started. It was indeed a terrible doom to which
this villainous brute had consigned us. We were to be butchered with
awful rites for the edification of Prempeh and his wild hordes of fanatics!
"Rather kill us outright," Omar said boldly, his hands trembling
nevertheless.
"Death will seize thee quite soon enough," laughed the chief derisively.
"Mine ally Prempeh will have the satisfaction of offering a queen's son to
the fetish."
"Rest assured that the god Zomara will reward thee for this day's evil
work," Omar cried, with a fierce look in his eyes. "Thou hast spent
fiercest hatred upon me, but even if I die, word will sooner or later be
carried into Mo that thou wert the cause of the death of the last of my
race. Then every man capable of bearing arms will rise against thee.
Standing here, I make prophecy that this thy kingdom shall be uprooted
51
as a weed in the garden of peace, and that thine own blood shall make
satisfaction for thy cruelty."
"Begone!" cried Samory, in a tumult of wrath. And turning to the
Arabs he cried in a commanding tone: "Take the dog to the slaughterers.
Let me never look again upon his face."
But ere they could seize him, he had lifted his hand, invoking the curse
of Zomara, saying:
"Omar, Prince of Mo, has spoken. This kingdom of Samory shall, ere
many moons, be shaken to its foundations."
But the fierce Arabs quickly dragged us forth, bound us when out of
sight of the great chief, and led us beyond the gates of the Kasbah to
where we found a great slave caravan assembled in readiness to depart.
Fully one hundred black slaves, each fastened in a long chain, were lying
huddled up in the shadow, seeking a brief rest after a long and tedious
march. Most of them were terrible objects, mere skin and bone, and all
showed signs of brutal ill-treatment, their backs bearing great festering
sores caused by the lashes of their pitiless captors. The majority of them
had, I ascertained, been captured in the forest wilds beyond the Niger,
and all preserved a stolid indifference, for they knew their terrible doom.
They were being hurried on to Kumassi to be sold to King Prempeh for
sacrificial purposes.
To this wretched perspiring crowd of hopeless humanity we were
bound, and amid the jeers of a number of Samory's officials who had
crowded to the gate to see us depart, we moved onward, our
steps hastened by the heavy whips of our masters who, mounted on
wiry little ponies and heavily armed, galloped up and down the line ad-
ministering blows to the laggards or the sick.
From the city away across the open grass-lands we wended our way, a
dismal, sorrowful procession, but Omar, now beside me again, briefly re-
lated how, after being removed from the torture-frame, his wounds had
been dressed and he had been tenderly nursed by an old female slave
who had taken compassion upon him. A dozen times messengers from
Samory had come to offer him his liberty in exchange for the secret of the
Treasure-house, but he had steadfastly refused. Twice the scoundrel
Kouaga had visited him and made merry over his discomfiture.
"But," said my friend, "the boastings of the traitor are empty words.
When we laugh it shall be at his vain implorings for a speedy death."
"To him we owe all these misfortunes," I said.
52
"Yes, everything. But if only we get into Mo he shall render an account
of his misdeeds to my mother. No mercy will be shown him, for before
the Naya's wrath the nation trembles."
"But our position at the present moment is one of extreme gravity," I
observed. "We are actually on our way to another of your mother's en-
emies, whose relentless cruelty is common talk throughout the world."
"True," he answered. "If we find the slightest loop-hole for escape we
must embrace it. But if not——" and he paused. "If not, then we must
meet our deaths with the calm indifference alike traditional of the
Sanoms and of Englishmen."
Whenever misfortune seemed to threaten he appeared only the more
composed. Each day showed me that, even though an African and a
semi-savage, yet his bearing in moments when others would have been
melancholy, was dignified and truly regal. Even though his only cover-
ing was a loin-cloth and a piece of a white cotton garment wrapped
about his shoulders, Omar Sanom was every inch a prince.
"If we made a dash for liberty we should, I fear, be shot down like
dogs," I said.
"Yes," he answered. "The country we shall now traverse will not facilit-
ate our flight, but the reverse. From the edge of the Great Forest to Buna,
beyond the Kong mountains, it is mostly marshy hollows and pestilen-
tial swamps, while the lands beyond Buna away to Koranza, in Ashanti,
are flat and open like your English pastures. We will, if opportunity of-
fers, endeavour to escape, but even if we succeeded in eluding their vi-
gilance death lurks everywhere in a hundred different forms."
"Well, at present we are slaves hounded on towards the dreaded Gol-
gotha of the Ashantis," I said. "We have escaped one fate only to be
threatened by one more terrible."
"True," he answered. "But down on the Coast they have an old proverb
in the Negro-English jargon which says, 'Softly, softly catchee monkey.'
Let us proceed cautiously, bear our trials with patience, seek not to in-
cense these brutal Arabs against us, and we may yet tread the path that
leads into my mother's kingdom. Then, within a week, the war-drums
will sound and we will accompany our hosts against Samory and his
hordes."
"I shall act as you direct," I replied. "If you think that by patience all
may come right no complaint shall pass my lips. We are companions in
misfortune, therefore let us arm ourselves against despair."
The compact thus made, we endured the toil and hardships of travel
without murmur. At first our bearded masters heaped upon the queen's
53
son every indignity they could devise, but finding they could not incense
him, nor cause him to utter complaint, ceased their taunts and cuts from
their loaded whips, and soon began to treat us with less severity.
Yet the fatigues of that march were terrible. The suffering I witnessed
in that slave gang is still as vivid in my memory as if it were only yester-
day. Ere we had passed through the great forest and gained the Kong
mountains, a dozen of our unfortunate companions who had fallen sick
had been left in the narrow path to be eaten alive by the driver-ants and
other insects in which the gloomy depths abound, while during the
twenty days which the march to the Ashanti border occupied many oth-
ers succumbed to fever. Over all the marshes there hung a thick white
mist deadly to all, but the more so to the starving wretches who came
from the high lands far north beyond the Niger. Scarcely a day broke
without one or more of the lean, weak negroes being attacked, and as a
sick slave is only an incumbrance, they were left to die while we were
marched onward. Whose turn it might next be to be left behind to be de-
voured alive none knew, and in this agony of fear and suspense we
pushed forward from day to day until we at last reached the undulating
grass-land that Omar told me was within a few days' march of Kumassi.
Here, even if the sun blazed down upon us like a ball of fire, it was far
healthier than in the misty regions of King Fever, and at the summit of a
low grass-covered hill our captors halted for two days to allow us to re-
cuperate, fearing, we supposed, that our starved and weak condition
might be made an excuse for low prices.
Soon, however, we were goaded forward again, and ere long, having
traversed Mampon's country, entered the capital of King Prempeh,
slaves to be sacrificed at the great annual custom.
No chance of escape had been afforded us. We were driven forward to
the doom to which the inhuman enemy of the Naya of Mo had so ruth-
lessly consigned us.
54
Chapter 11
THE HUMAN SACRIFICE.
Kumassi, the capital of the Ashanti kingdom, was, we found, full of curi-
ous contrasts. We approached it through dense high elephant grass,
along a little beaten foot-path strewn with fetish dolls. It was evening
when we entered it, and drums could be heard rumbling and booming
far and near. Presently we passed a cluster of the usual mud huts, then
another; several other clusters were in sight with patches of high jungle
grass between. Then in a bare open space some two hundred yards
across, were huts, and more thatched roofs in the hollow beyond. This
was Kumassi.
During that day three of our fellow-sufferers, knowing the horrible
fate in store for them, managed to snatch knives from the belts of our
captors and commit suicide before our eyes, preferring death by their
own hands to decapitation by the executioners of Prempeh, that
bloodthirsty monarch who has now happily been deposed by the British
Government, but who at that time was sacrificing thousands of human
lives annually, defiant and heedless of the remonstrances of civilized
nations.
In size Kumassi came up to the standard I had formed of it. The streets
were numerous, some half-dozen were broad and uniform, the main av-
enue being some seventy yards wide, and here and there along its length
a great patriarchal tree spread its branches. The houses were wattled
structures with alcoves and stuccoed façades, embellished with Moorish
designs and coloured with red ochre. Red seemed the prevailing colour.
Indeed it is stated on good authority that on one occasion Prempeh de-
sired to stain the walls of his palace a darker red, and used the blood of a
thousand victims for that purpose. Behind each of the pretentious build-
ings which fronted the streets were grouped the huts of the domestics,
inclosing small courtyards.
Passing down this main avenue, where many people watched our dis-
mal procession, we came to the grove whence issued the terrible smell
55
which caused travellers to describe Kumassi as a vast charnel-house; we,
however, did not halt there, but passed onward to the palace of Prem-
peh, situated about three hundred yards away and occupying a level
area in the valley dividing the two eminences on which the town is situ-
ated. The first view of what was designated as the palace was a number
of houses with steep thatched roofs clustered together and fenced
around with split bamboo stakes, while at one corner rose a square two-
storeyed stone building. The lower part of the lofty walls of stucco was
stained deep red, probably by blood, and the upper part whitewashed.
Presumably our captors had received a commission from Prempeh to
supply him with slaves for the sacrifice, for we were marched into a
small courtyard of the palace itself and there allowed to rest until next
day, being given a plentiful supply of well-cookedcankie, or maize pud-
ding wrapped in plantain leaves. Our position was, we knew, extremely
critical. Attired in the merest remnant of a waist cloth, with a thick noose
of grass-rope securely knotted around our necks, we lay in the open
court with the stars shining brilliantly above us, unable to sleep from the
intensity of our feelings. In the next court there were more than a hun-
dred unfortunates like ourselves huddled together, ready to be sacrificed
on the morrow.
Soon after sunrise, while moodily awaiting our fate, we were made to
stand up for inspection by one of the King's Ocras. These men were of
three classes; the first being relatives of the King and entrusted with State
secrets, were never sacrificed, the second were certain soldiers appointed
by the king, and the third slaves. All, on account of their distinguished
services, were exempt from taxes, palavers and military services, and
were kept in splendid style by the Royal exchequer, those of the inferior
classes being expected to sacrifice themselves upon the tomb of the king
when he died.
The tall, rather handsome, man who inspected us was an Ocra of the
first class, for he wore a massive gold circle like a quoit suspended
around his neck by golden chains, and, walking beneath an enormous,
gaudily-coloured silken umbrella bearing the crude device of a crouch-
ing leopard, was attended by a numerous retinue, who paid him the
greatest respect.
The Arabs who had brought us there made him profound obeisance,
while some members of the retinue snapped fingers with several of the
Arabs, and the usual teetotal ceremony of drinking water to "cool the
heads" was gone through. The inspection was a keen one, each of us be-
ing passed in review before the Ocra, who made brief comments to the
56
Arabs at his side. As Omar passed the dark-faced official scrutinised him
carefully and seemed interested to learn what the leader of the slave
caravan told him in a tongue unknown to me regarding us both, for his
gaze wandered from my companion to myself, and I was at once called
out to pass before his keen glance. We were both kept there several
minutes while the Arab presumably explained how we had been en-
trapped at the court of Samory. At last, however, we were allowed to re-
tire, and very soon afterwards the great Ocra moved forward into the
next court, followed by a couple of youths bearing long knives and a
thin, lean-looking wretch with a stool curiously carved from a solid
block of cotton wood, richly embellished with gold ornaments.
When he had gone I cast myself upon the ground in the shadow be-
side Omar, saying:
"After all, it would have been better if we had died in the woods than
to endure this torture of waiting for execution."
"Yes," he answered, gloomily. "That Ocra who has just inspected us
was Betea, a bitter enemy of my mother. He is certain to revenge himself
upon us."
But even as he spoke we heard the adulatory shouts of the royal crier
somewhere in our vicinity. They were more than sufficient to transform
any man, white or black, into a vain despot, and as translated by Omar
were in the strain of:
"O, King, thou art the king above all kings! Thou art great! Thou art
mighty! Thou art strong! Thou hast done enough! The princes of the
earth bow down to thee, and humble themselves in the dust before thy
stool. Who is like unto the King of all the Ashantis?"
It was the preliminary of the great sacrifice!
King Prempeh, though arrogant, vain and cruel beyond measure, had,
we afterwards saw, the eye of a king, which means that it was the eye of
one possessing unlimited power over life and death. It was the custom
for the king to be placed on the stool by the united voice of the chiefs; but
immediately he was seated in him became vested the supreme power.
Soon the firing of guns and the loud beating of the great kinkassis, or
drums ornamented with human skulls, sounded outside the walls
wherein we were confined, while the air was rent by the wild yells of the
excited populace. For nearly an hour this continued, and we thus re-
mained in terrible suspense until at last the gate opened, and with the
grass ropes still around our neck we were marched out of the palace un-
der an escort of the king's slaves.
57
Turning to the left along the broad avenue we saw upon a long pole a
human head grinning at us, two vultures perched upon it eagerly strip-
ping it. It was, Omar told me, the head of a thief. The street was crowded
with people, who shouted to their gods as we passed in procession, and
presently we came to a great fetish-gallows, from the cross beams of
which hung the decomposing body of a ram. Some of the men forming
our escort were a strangely-dressed set, their uniform consisting of
striped tunics reaching to the knee, confined round the waist by belts
profusely decorated with strips of leopard skin and tiny brass bells
which tinkled musically as they moved. In their belts they carried several
knives, while the musket and the little round cap of pangolin skin com-
pleted their equipment.
At last we reached the grove at Bantama on the out-skirts of the town,
one of the three execution places. Several thousand people had as-
sembled around a great tree where a number of gorgeous umbrellas of
every hue and material had been erected. Many were ornamented with
curious devices, and the tops of some bore little images of men and an-
imals in gold and silver. Under the centre umbrella, upon a brass-nailed
chair close to the tree, sat King Prempeh in regal splendour, surrounded
by a crowd of chiefs, whose golden accoutrements glittered in the sun.
Three scarlet-clad dwarfs were dancing before him amid the dense
crowd of sword-bearers, fly-whiskers, court criers and minor officials. As
he sat there, his thin flabby yellow face glistening with oil, he looked a
truly regal figure, wearing upon his head a high black and gold crown,
and on his neck and arms great golden beads and nuggets. His habit was
to suck a large nut that looked like a big cigar, and as he sat there with it
in his mouth it gave his face a strangely idiotic expression.
The whole Ashanti court had assembled at the theatre of human
sacrifice.
As we approached the drumming grew louder, the roar of voices filled
the air, and the great coloured umbrellas were seen whirling and bob-
bing above the heads of the surging crowd of natives. The great barrel-
like drums, with their grim ornamentations, boomed forth, and bands of
elephant-tusk horns added to the deafening din.
In the distance could be seen the great fetish-house, with its enormous
high thatched roof wherein was supposed to be hidden Prempeh's great
treasures of gold-dust and jewels. The ground whereon the glittering
court had assembled was covered with the skulls and bones of thou-
sands of former victims, and as we advanced slowly through the turbu-
lent crowd we saw a sight that froze our blood. At the foot of the fetish
58
tree was placed a great brass execution-bowl, about five feet in diameter.
It was ornamented with four small lions and a number of knobs all
around its rim, except at one part where there was a space for the
victim's neck to rest upon the edge. The blood of those sacrificed to the
gods was allowed to putrefy in this great bowl—which has recently
passed into the hands of the English, and is now in London—and leaves
of certain herbs being added it was considered valuable as a fetish
medicine.
As we entered the cleared space between the chiefs and caboocers sur-
rounding the King and the thousands of warriors and spectators, salvo
after salvo of musketry was fired, until the smoke obscured all objects in
our immediate vicinity. Around the sacrificial bowl were grouped a
dozen or more royal executioners with their faces whitewashed and
hideously decorated. Some upon their heads wore caps of monkey skin
with the face in front, while others had high head-dresses of eagles'
feathers, their tunics of long grasses being covered with magical charms
tied in little bunches. All were copiously smeared with blood, while each
wore a necklace of human teeth, and carried a heavy broad-bladed
sword rusted by the blood of former victims. Behind them were twenty
or thirty Ashantis, each with a knife stuck through both cheeks, to pre-
vent the unhappy victims from asking the King to spare their lives,
which, according to national law, must be granted, while a broad-bladed
dagger was in many cases run under the shoulder-blades. They were
prisoners who had tried to stir revolt, and were, we understood, to be
sacrificed first. Our turn would come later.
The scene was horrible; we were appalled. At a signal from the King
the first unfortunate wretch was instantly seized by two executioners
and held over the bowl, while a third lifted his keen sword, and with a
dull, sickening thud brought it down upon the poor fellow's neck, hack-
ing into his spine until the head was severed. Then there arose a loud
shout of triumph. The offering to the fetish was the signal for the most
enthusiastic rejoicing, and the shouts of adulation were deafening. The
people, ground down by a crafty priesthood, and steeped in the most de-
grading superstitions, looked upon the wholesale butchery that followed
without a shudder. King, courtiers and slaves seemed seized with an in-
satiable desire for blood, and as one head fell after another, the cries of
the victims drowned by the vociferous shouts of the onlookers, Omar
and I stood shackled and trembling.
One after another the victims were thrown across the bowl and their
life-blood gushed into it as the cruel swords descended, while the King
59
gloated over the sight with an expression of pleasure upon his oily sinis-
ter face, until the heap of headless trunks grew large, and the number
sacrificed must have been over a hundred.
Suddenly the chief executioner took one of his knives which had a hu-
man skull upon the hilt, and holding it up, commanded silence.
Then spoke the Ocra Betea, who, rising from his stool, waved his hand
across the veritable Golgotha, crying:
"Behold! Tremble! The King makes the great yam custom. The death-
drum beats, and to the fetish we offer sacrifice. Who is so great as the
King of all the Ashantis, and who is so powerful as the fetish? Yonder
are the graves of the great kings, and the marks on yonder walls show
the number of men who were sacrificed when their graves were watered.
Listen! The mighty King Prempeh is about to sacrifice. To-day he sends
five hundred men to the dark world as a thank offering for the harvest,
and as an offering to the fetish to enable us to eat up our enemies, the
whites. When our mighty King says war, we will arm against them, and
their heads shall fill many baskets. Of a truth our lord Prempeh is the
greatest monarch who has ever sat upon the stool. The earth quakes
when he speaks, and his enemies are paralysed by fear. Betea has
spoken."
Then the crowd set up a series of wild shrieks and yells, they gesticu-
lated, fired guns indiscriminately, and danced wildly, while some of the
enthusiasts pressing forward, dipped their hands into the blood already
in the bowl, and besmeared themselves with it; and others, turning upon
myself and my companion as we stood silent and trembling, heaped
every insult upon us.
In a few moments, however, the crowd was driven back, and at a sig-
nal from the King the executions recommenced, until the smell of blood
grew sickening, and the awful scene caused me to shake like an aspen.
I knew that nothing could save me from the hands of these demoniacal
whitewashed executioners, and in a few moments I, a slave purchased
like an ox for the slaughter, would be borne down over the bowl and
decapitated.
I looked at Omar. His face was pale, but his lips were tightly set, al-
though there was an expression of utter hopelessness upon his
countenance.
The horror of that moment held me breathless.
60
Chapter 12
IN THE SACRED GROVE.
One by one the slaves of the gang in which we had travelled were
dragged forward, held over the execution bowl and sent as messengers
to spirit-land, until it came to Omar's turn. In a second two white-faced
demons with keen swords seized him, and despite the cry for mercy that
escaped his lips, he was rushed forward, the frenzied executioners fling-
ing him down unceremoniously, and bending his head over the warm
blood with which the basin was now filled to overflowing.
At that instant, as the chief executioner strode forward and held his
dripping blade uplifted, ready to strike, the King raised his hand to com-
mand silence, and the hideously-dressed official paused in wonder, his
sword poised in air.
Betea, the Ocra, bending low, was whispering to the King, when the
latter suddenly took the nut from his mouth and said:
"So it is upon Omar, son of my enemy the Naya of Mo, that my eyes
rest! Let him stand forth with his white companion."
Obedient to the command of the King, the executioners allowed Omar
to rise, and in a few moments we both stood before the royal stool.
"How came you here?" asked Prempeh, scowling.
"I was captured and sold as slave to the Arab dealers," he answered,
drawing himself up with that princely air he always assumed in mo-
ments of danger.
"And your white companion? How is it he is in our capital?"
"I have been to the land of the white men across the sea, and he re-
turned as my friend," Omar replied. "We were travelling homeward to
Mo when by treachery I was entrapped."
"By whom?"
"By Samory."
Across Prempeh's evil face there spread a sickly smile. He was an ally
of the great Mohammedan chief, and saw at once that Samory had sold
the son of their mutual enemy into slavery.
61
"Your queen-mother," he said, "has times without number sent her
armed hordes over the border to raid our villages, and it is the fetish that
has delivered you, her son, into our hands. The fetish has not sent you
hither as a sacrifice, but as a hostage. Therefore your life shall be spared
together with that of your white friend, but you shall both be given as
slaves to our trusted Ocra Betea. Let the sacrifice proceed. Prempeh,
King of all the Ashantis, has spoken."
Next second a poor black wretch was dragged along in Omar's place
and the sword fell heavily upon him, while we were both hurried away
in charge of a caboocer to the residence of the man who was, according
to Omar, one of his mother's bitterest foes. Glad were we to escape with
our lives from that awful scene of inhuman butchery, but it seemed that
as slaves of this court favourite to whom we had been given, there would
be but little brightness in our lives.
As day succeeded day our gloomy forebodings were only too truly
realized. Betea, the most powerful of the King's Ocras, seemed to delight
in making our lives a burden to us, for amid luxurious surroundings we
were beaten, starved, and ill-treated, until even death under the
executioner's knife seemed a preferable fate.
Six months passed; six weary months of slavery and wretchedness.
Our position seemed absolutely hopeless, and I began to fear that we
should never escape from the City of Blood. The scenes we witnessed
there were so revolting, that I cannot now reflect upon them without a
shudder. The ghastly "customs," the absence of all protection for life and
property, the grinding oppression, the nameless horrors of all kinds,
were terrible. Blood was continually flowing, for every anniversary de-
manded fresh holocausts, and the "Golgotha" presented a sight of indes-
cribable horror. The unwritten code of laws were of such a sanguinary
nature, that the public executioners formed a numerous section of the
community and were constantly employed collecting their victims, lead-
ing them for exhibition through the capital and then hacking them to
pieces in presence of the king. Soldiers, slaves, retainers of the nobles
and conquered tribes possessed no defined rights, and their lives and
property were practically in the hands of the royal and governing
classes.
Close to the house of our inhuman master was the fetish grove, a hor-
rible place, surrounded by rank grass, dirt, and reeking with odours pes-
tilential. Once or twice I wandered in that grove, treading upon human
bones at every step—the heaped-up remains of thousands of miserable
creatures slaughtered to please the Ashanti ruler's lust for blood. Poor
62
crumbling bones, mouldy and sodden as the rotten wood of older
trees, yet once clothed with form and vigour, lay everywhere, while un-
der the cotton wood trees skulls were heaped and vultures hovered
about in hundreds.
One evening we attended our master on one of his official visits to
Bantama, the fetish priest's village where we so narrowly escaped execu-
tion, and were able to thoroughly inspect the gruesome place. The most
horrible blood-orgies known to superstition and fetish-worship were al-
most daily practised there, and in nearly every abode there were stools
and chairs smeared with human blood, drinking bowls were stained
with it, and some vessels were half-filled with black clotted blood. In the
priests' inner chambers, dark dens filled with foul odours, to which we
entered with Betea, we found not only the whole apartment smeared
with blood, but bones and portions of human remains lying about
openly, or wrapped in rags to serve as charms. One building, probably
the residence of one of the chief priests, was embellished with mud-
moulded panels and scroll work, and the columns facing the principal
quadrangle were fluted. The colours were the prevailing white clay, and
red ochre plastered upon the wattle and mud pillars.
Suddenly, as in the dusk we left this house, a loud horrible shriek
sounded. At first we thought some poor wretch was being sacrificed, but
again and again it sounded, and all turned pale, even the royal Ocra
himself.
"What's that, I wonder?" I asked Omar, who, bearing our master's
sword, was walking at my side.
"The gree-gree!" he gasped, looking round in fear, while at that mo-
ment there sounded two ear-piercing blasts upon a horn.
"Hark!" cried Betea himself, trembling. "The gree-gree is out to-night!"
I remembered that I had been told by one of our fellow-slaves that the
gree-gree was a great fetish who appeared horned like a demon, and
killed all persons he came across. None dare lock their doors when the
gree-gree walked, and only the King himself was invulnerable. This no
doubt was another trick of the priests to frighten the superstitious nat-
ives, and at the same time wreak vengeance upon those who had offen-
ded them. Once again the notes of the horn rose weird and shrill, and
died away. Then Betea, himself affrighted, turned to us saying:
"Fly! fly for your lives. If the gree-gree catches you you will be struck
upon the brow. His arm deals death everywhere."
In a moment all took to their heels, including the royal Ocra, but
Omar, grasping my arm, whispered excitedly:
63
"Stay. We may now escape."
As the words left his lips we caught sight of a weird black figure
dressed in long coarse grass, with rams' horns upon his head, his face
whitened and a second pair of eyes painted over his own. In his hand
gleamed a long bright knife, while at his side was suspended a freshly-
severed human arm and hand. Yelling and leaping like a veritable de-
mon, he suddenly noticed the flying figures of our fellow-slaves, and
halting a moment, dashed after them, leaving us alone.
"He will return here, so we must hide," Omar said quickly, and glan-
cing round, we both saw at the end of the dark ghostly avenue of fetish-
trees an oblong windowless mud building with a high-pitched triple
grass thatched roof. Running towards it we managed to wrench off the
padlock from the door and enter. It was, we discovered, the reputed sep-
ulchre of the Ashanti kings. Without, it was guarded by all sorts of
fetish-charms, extraordinary odds and ends, animals' claws, broken pot-
tery, scraps of tin, bits of wood, stones and human bones. Within, by the
aid of a lamp we found burning were revealed several great coffers
clamped with copper and iron, each resting upon two big stools of
carved cotton-wood. Jars and vases filled with water and wine, braziers
full of sweet-smelling leaves, and plates of food were placed beside each,
offerings for the use of the dead.
Omar told me that when an Ashanti king died, he was buried in an or-
dinary coffin for a time, but afterwards the body was invariably disin-
terred, and the joints of the skeleton articulated with gold bands and
wire. It was then placed, doubled up, in one of these spacious cof-
fers—fully four feet long by two feet wide and deep—and the other skel-
etons were attendants, slaughtered and sent to the land of Shades to wait
on the monarch's ghost.
"Possibly," I said, "much of the ghostly grimness and worked-up hor-
rors about this place are cunningly devised, not only to protect the Royal
tombs from being plundered by the superstitious natives, but to help to
safeguard the State treasures concealed in yonder coffins."
"Yes," he said. "In this priest-ridden country all the superstition is
heaped up for their benefit and profit. But we must get out of here before
dawn, run past the gree-gree if he is about, and make a dash for the open
forest. It is our only chance of escape, for at dawn the priests will come
again to watch beside the tombs, and if discovered we are certain to be
skewered through the mouth, dragged before Prempeh and hacked to
pieces by the criminal executioner."
64
"Well, any fate is better than that," I observed. "Let us wait an hour or
so, and then make a rush for it."
"Very well," he answered, and together we resumed the work of ex-
ploring the strange place.
Soon, however, our lamp burned dim, flickered, and went out; then,
after waiting in silence for half an hour in the pitch darkness, we softly
opened the door, and, holding our breaths, crept out. With noiseless
tread we stole along the sacred grove and were nearly at the end when,
without warning, the hideous gree-gree, with a fiendish yell of triumph,
sprang out of some bushes upon us.
Involuntarily, I put up my fist to ward off attack, and in doing so gave
him a well-directed blow full in the face, sending him down flat on his
back.
"Hurrah!" cried Omar in delight. "Floored him! Let's run for our lives."
Ere the midnight murderer could spring to his feet, we had dashed
away as fast as our legs could carry us, running along the fetish-grove,
past the cluster of executioners' houses, across the open space where in
the centre stood the great tree under which Prempeh had sat to witness
the wholesale sacrifice, and continuing until we came to a path through
the high elephant-grass, we soon left the city far behind us, and plunged
into the dark, dismal forest by the narrow winding way that led to the
unexplored regions of the north.
When at length we paused to take breath Omar, panting, said:
"At last we are free again. Betea will not seek us, for he naturally be-
lieves we were killed by the gree-gree. If Zomara favours us we shall yet
live to enter Mo and lead our hosts into the country of Samory."
Then, taking from his neck a little bag of some strange powder, he
took therefrom a pinch, and with fervent words scattered it to the four
quarters of the wind, thus making a thank-offering to the Crocodile-god.
65
Chapter 13
THE WAY OF THE THOUSAND STEPS.
To describe in detail our long toilsome journey and the terrible hardships
we suffered during the next two months is unnecessary. Suffice it to say
that without means of barter, unarmed, and living upon fruit and roots,
we tramped along that narrow path through the pestilential marshes and
the great forests where no light penetrated through the thick foliage of
the giant trees for several weeks, always due north and passing villages
sometimes, until we crossed the Sene river, ascended the mountains bey-
ond, and found ourselves upon a great level grass-covered plateau,
which occupied us several days in traversing. At last we came to the bor-
der of Prempeh's kingdom, crossed the Volta river that wound in the
brilliant sunlight for many miles like a golden thread among the trees,
and soon entered the fertile country of the Dagombas, a wild-looking
tribe who were allies of the great Naya. At Yendi, seven days' march
through the bush from the Volta, we interviewed the Dagomba king and
received a most enthusiastic welcome. Presents of food and slaves were
given us, as well as a musket each, with some curious ivory-hilted
knives, and we were treated as honoured guests of his sable majesty,
who, Omar informed me, was indebted to the Naya for his royal
position.
This welcome was therefore only what we expected, nevertheless, our
life during the few days at Yendi was of a very different character to the
miserable existence we had experienced during our long march to the
confines of Ashanti. But Omar was impatient to fulfil the commands of
his mother, and we did not remain longer than was absolutely necessary,
in order not to give offence to the king; however, one morning we
snapped fingers with him and, with two hundred decidedly savage-
looking men as escort, we moved away still due north on our journey to
the mysterious land of the Great White Queen.
The King of Dagomba had told me, in answer to my enquiries, that
neither himself nor any of his men had ever entered Mo. The inhabitants
66
were a very powerful and fearless people, he knew, and their soldiers
were as numerous as an army of locusts. The men of Mo were an admir-
able race, he added, and although no stranger had ever been admitted to
the mysterious realm, yet its power was feared by every West African
ruler without exception.
It gratified me to think that I should be the first to set foot within a
land forbidden to any who had not been born there, and I grew ex-
tremely impatient to set eyes upon the country to the throne of which my
light-hearted friend Omar was heir. Travelling quickly, with but few
delays, we crossed the Busanga country, mainly covered by dense, dark
forest and unhealthy marshes, where the odour of decayed vegetable
matter was sickening, until we came to a great mountain rearing its
snowy crest into the clouds, which Omar told me was called the Nauri.
Hence, when we had rested two days to recruit in the sunlight after the
dispiriting gloom of the primeval forest, we held on our way, passing
many native villages, the inhabitants of each showing marked friendli-
ness towards our Dagombas.
Kona, our headman, was a tall, pleasant-faced negro, raw-boned and
awkward, with huge hands and splay feet, but his muscles were hard as
iron and his strength astounding. He treated Omar as a prince, always
deferential to his wishes, and regarded me as an honoured visitor to the
unknown but powerful protector of his sovereign. Though fraught with
many dangers on account of the wild beasts lurking in the forests and
the snakes on the plains, our journey nevertheless proved extremely
pleasant, for in Kona we found a true and sympathetic friend.
Once he spoke to me of Queen Victoria, and his words amused me. He
said with impressive earnestness:
"Ah! The Queen of the English is, next to the Great White Queen, the
mightiest and cleverest woman in the world. She sees the treasures in the
interior of the earth, and has them lifted. She spans the world with iron
threads, and when she touches them they carry her words into the
world. She has steamers running on dry land. If a mountain is in her way
she has a hole made through it. If a river interferes, she builds a road
across in the air. And the Queen of the English and the Great White
Queen of Mo are richer than all other women together. They are the most
beautiful women in the world, and their husbands paid nothing for
them."
When at night around our camp fire we would relate to him the
treachery of Kouaga, and our adventures in the hands of Samory and
67
Prempeh, he would stir the embers viciously and call down the curse of
Zomara upon them all.
"When the son of the great Naya of Mo punishes his enemies, Kona
will go and assist in their destruction," he said one night. "Kona's knife
shall seek their hearts."
"So it shall," Omar had replied, assured of the loyalty of this negro ally.
"You are our guide and friend; rest assured that when we enter Mo you
shall not be forgotten."
And we went forward next day all in excellent spirits, all eager to
enter the unknown land.
A few days' march from the mystic mountain of Nauri we approached
a little town called Imigu, but found it had been sacked and burned,
evidently by Arab slave-raiders, who, Omar said, were constantly des-
cending upon the towns and villages on the border of his land. At even-
ing we went over the ruins of what not long ago must have been a popu-
lous trading town, saw how wanton had been the destruction, and
judged from the heaps of bleaching bones how terrible had been the
butchery of its inhabitants.
At dawn, however, we moved forward again, but at noon, while we
were descending a beautiful fertile valley Kona stopped suddenly, gazed
around wonderingly, and then halting his men addressed them, telling
them that they were about to enter a country wherein no stranger had
ever before set foot, and urging them to patiently face any difficulty they
found in their path, and to offer sacrifices of food to the fetish to give
them strength to surmount all obstacles.
Omar, with folded arms, stood by and listened. When Kona had fin-
ished he raised his hand, saying:
"Men of the Dagomba. You have guided us to the furthermost limit of
the earth as known to you; in fact to the point where your knowledge of
this land ends and mine commences. For this service you deserve re-
ward, and I, Omar, Prince of Mo, promise that none who have accom-
panied me hither shall leave the palace of the Great White Queen
without his just reward."
Two hundred black faces thereupon glistened with delight. All were
eager to see the wonders of this much-talked-of country, but the promise
of a reward at the hands of the great queen was a pleasant surprise that
evoked the wildest enthusiasm. They yelled with pleasure, bestowed
upon us all the terms of adulation until they exhausted their vocabulary,
and blew their elephants' tusks until I confess I was compelled to stuff
my fingers into my ears, fearing deafness.
68
"Lead us on, O our lord the prince!" they cried. "Let us go forward. We
will follow thee if thou wilt point out the right path leading unto Mo,
and appease thy land's jealous guardians who smite back all would-be
intruders with swords of fire."
This latter was a tradition. I had heard it many times during my jour-
ney with Omar. The natives of Ashanti, of Kong, of Gurunsi, and of
Dagomba, had all told me that the country of Mo, wherever it might be
situated, was surrounded by a great cordon of guards—demons they be-
lieved them to be—who had never allowed a stranger to enter, for they
simply lifted their deadly swords that blazed like fire-brands, and slew
the offending wanderer.
"The guardians of Mo shall be appeased," Omar assured them. "Not a
hair on the head of any of our party shall be injured, although the way is
still long and full of terrors and pitfalls. But I will lead, and those who
obey will enter Mo. Those who depart from my words will assuredly
perish. Omar, Prince of Mo, has spoken."
"May the fetish be good," they all cried aloud. "We will follow and at-
tend to each word that falleth from thy lips."
Then in a few minutes we moved on again down the long beautiful
valley through which a clear river wound among green swards and
clumps of trees, forming a park-like scene such as might have been wit-
nessed in England. Presently, however, the character of the country sud-
denly changed, and we were passing through a rocky defile, arid and
waterless, while at the end could be seen a wide open country without
rock or tree stretching away as far as the eye could reach to the misty
horizon.
It appeared like a great limitless wilderness, and those in front
quickened their pace in order to fully view the character of the land we
were approaching.
For their haste, however, they received an unpleasant reward.
When those who ran forward emerged into the open plain, they sud-
denly found the soft earth give way beneath their feet without warning,
and ere they realized their danger a dozen of them were struggling up to
their arm-pits in the sea of fine ever-shifting sand that seemed kept in
constant motion by some unknown natural cause. With each movement
they sank deeper, until, fearing that the sandy quagmire would envelop
and suffocate them, they cried aloud for assistance. Help was ready at
hand, for the remainder of our followers ran forward, and stretching
forth ropes of monkey-creeper were enabled to drag out their intrepid
companions, much to Omar's amusement.
69
"Those who deviate from the course that I myself take will assuredly
perish," he exclaimed a moment later. Then, turning to me, he added:
"This desert you see before you is one of the barriers dividing my land
from those of our enemies. To those who know not the secret it is
impassable."
"Yes," I answered, surprised at the strange treacherous character of the
sand. "Those who ventured upon it had narrow escapes."
"Exactly. Any weight upon its surface will sink to the depth of many
feet, sucked down as swiftly and surely as a piece of wood is drawn
down by a whirlpool. In an attempt to cross this unsafe region many
men have lost their lives, for once upon its surface escape is impossible.
See!" And he cast his staff away upon the sand. In an instant it had sunk
out of sight.
"Then how shall we gain the land beyond?" I asked in fear at the soft
nature of the earth's surface.
"There is but one way. It is known only to the Naya and to myself, and
is called the Way of the Thousand Steps. Its existence is preserved as a
royal secret in case my family are compelled at any time to fly from our
country, in which case they could escape safely, while all their pursuers
would assuredly be overwhelmed and perish. For that reason the know-
ledge has been for centuries solely in the keeping of the reigning Naya or
Naba. It was by this secret path that I left Mo and came to you in Eng-
land; by the same path I return."
"Lead the way. We will follow," I said.
"Come, men," he exclaimed, lifting his hand as he addressed them.
"Fear not, but follow so closely in my footprints that your feet obliterate
them, and I will bridge the great gulf that lieth between Mo and the out-
er world."
The mishap to the advance guard had evoked the wildest speculations
among the natives, and all were eagerly pressing forward, when, in a
few moments, Omar took up his position before them, and urging the ut-
most caution held up the staff he took from my hand, taking what ap-
peared to be the bearings between his own eye and the summit of a low
mound far away on the horizon. The preparations did not take long, and
very soon, with his staff held in the same position before him, he began
to venture forward upon the unsafe sand.
Carefully he trod the great treeless plain, being followed by all in
single file. With such caution did we tread, and so excited were we all,
that at first scarcely was a word spoken. Very soon, however, with con-
fidence in Omar's leadership the natives grew hilarious again, and
70
keeping straight behind the young prince they found the way, about a
foot in width, hard, although dry, and extremely unpleasant to tread.
Nevertheless we all were ready to encounter and overcome every
obstacle providing that we could enter the forbidden land, and thus we
went forward. Now and then one of the natives, in speaking to the man
next behind him, would turn and thus deviate from the path over which
Omar had passed, and he would quickly pay for this carelessness, sud-
denly finding himself floundering helplessly up to the ears in the deadly
quicksands. Then the whole of our party would halt and, amid broad
laughter and much ridicule, the unfortunate one would be dragged forth
from a certain and terrible doom.
But the path was not straight. Heedless of the chatter and excitement
behind him Omar walked on before, his staff raised on a level with his
eye, counting aloud each step he took, measuring the distance, until
when he had taken a thousand paces he suddenly stopped, examined the
ground well, and then turning at exact right angles, took bearings by an-
other mound that I had noticed far in the distant haze.
Again and again we faced always at exact angles after pacing a thou-
sand steps, so that our path became a zig-zag one, long and toilsome,
with many halts, yet without rest and without seeing anything beyond
the wondrous expanse of burning sky and the loose sand that swallowed
all things dead or living.
Everything thrown upon it sank and disappeared almost as quickly as
iron cast into water.
71
Chapter 14
FOES.
When we had been several hours upon our hot, tedious journey there
arose a quarrel out of a practical joke played by one native upon the man
walking before him. Quick, hasty words led to blows being exchanged.
Both men were walking immediately in front of me, and I did my best
to quell the disturbance, but either they did not understand me or af-
fected ignorance of my words, for suddenly one of them raising his spear
leapt forward upon the other. The man attacked sprang aside and in so
doing left the narrow path, at that spot not more than twelve inches in
width, followed by the would-be assassin.
Next second they sank into the sand, and although loud cries of horror
escaped them, both disappeared into the terrible gulf ere a hand could be
outstretched to save them. Hearing their cries I leant forward, but before
I could grasp either of them the fine sand had closed over their heads
like the waters of the sea, leaving a deep round depression in the surface.
They had disappeared for ever.
The instant death of the two combatants before my gaze caused me to
shudder, and I confess that from that moment I kept my eyes rivetted
upon the strange narrow path by which we were crossing the impassable
barrier.
Through three whole days we continued along the Way of the Thou-
sand Steps, resting at night and journeying while the light lasted. To halt
was even more perilous than to progress, for when we encamped we
simply sat down upon the spot where our footsteps had been arrested,
and food was passed from hand to hand along the line. This latter was
somewhat unsatisfactory, at least as far as I was concerned, for the eat-
ables that reached me were not improved by passing through the hands
of thirty or forty malodorous negroes. But the fatality that had at first ap-
palled us had now been forgotten, and everyone kept a good heart. Led
by Omar we were approaching a land hitherto unknown; a country
72
reputed to be full of hidden wonders and strange marvels, and all were,
hour by hour, eagerly scanning the mysterious horizon.
Across the level sand, swept by winds that parched the lips and filled
the eyes with fine dust, causing us infinite misery, our gaze was ever
turned northward where Omar told us lay our land of promise. The very
last hesitations on the part of our followers had long been overcome. The
African savage is not given to roaming far from his own tract, fearing
capture or assassination at the hands of neighbouring tribes, but such
confidence had the men of Dagomba that if Omar had plunged into the
quicksands they would have followed without comment.
When at Trigger's I had often read stories of African adventure. I used
to fancy myself buried in forest wilds, or eating luncheon upon the grass,
on the edge of a tumbling brook in the shadow of great outlandish trees;
I could feel the juice of luscious fruits—mangroves and bananas—trickle
between my teeth. I had once read in one of the boys' papers about the
daughter of an African colonist abducted by the son of a West African
king who had fallen in love with her; and the ups and downs and ins
and outs of this love drama had opened a boundless vista to my imagin-
ation. But life in Africa contained far more excitement than I had ever
imagined. Death threatened everywhere, and I received constant warn-
ings from Omar, who gave me good advice how to avoid sunstroke or
ward off the effects of the chill wind that blew nightly across this won-
derful limitless plain.
One evening, when the horizon northward looked grey and mysteri-
ous, and to our left the fiery sun's last dying ray still lingered in the sky,
there was a sudden halt, the cause of which was I afterwards found due
to the sudden stoppage of our leader, Omar. All were eager to know the
cause, until in a few moments an amazing announcement spread from
mouth to mouth along the line.
There were strangers on ahead of us! They were actually traversing the
Way of the Thousand Steps!
Shading my eyes with my hands I eagerly scanned the horizon in the
direction indicated, and there, to my astonishment, saw a long thin black
line. At first I could not distinguish whether it was a file of men or some
inanimate object, but the keen eyes of the savages before and behind me
soon detected its presence, and dozens of voices were in accord that
it was a line of armed men, and that they were moving in our direction.
Instantly it flashed across my mind that whoever they were, friends or
foes, there was not sufficient room for them to pass us upon that narrow
path, and knowing the determination of our followers I wondered what
73
the result would be when we met. Unable to approach Omar sufficiently
near to converse with him, I watched his face. By the heavy look upon
his brow I knew that trouble was brewing. It was the same look his face
wore when we had been held captive at Kumassi, an expression of resol-
ution and fierce combativeness.
Soon, however, we moved along again, eager to ascertain who were
the strangers who knew the secret supposed to have been jealously
guarded by the great Naya and her son, and for over an hour pressed
forward at a quicker pace than usual. Fortunately for us the sunset
lingered long away to our left, for by its light we were enabled to see the
men approaching, and before it died out to distinguish, to our
amazement, that they all wore white Arab burnouses and were armed to
the teeth. In point of numbers they were quite double the strength of our
little force, but we knew not whether they were friendly or antagonistic.
This point, however, was at last cleared up by Omar himself, who, just
as it was growing dusk halted, and, turning towards me, shouted in
English:
"Scars, are you there?"
"Yes," I answered. "What's up?"
"Those devils in front! Can't you see their banner?"
"No," I answered. Then remembering that he had always possessed a
keen vision, I added: "Who are they?"
"Some of Samory's men, evidently in flight," he answered. "On seeing
us they raised their banner, and are, it seems, determined to cut their
way past us."
"But where have they been that they should know the secret of the
Thousand Steps?" I inquired astounded.
"I'm quite at a loss to understand," he replied puzzled. "The only solu-
tion of the mystery seems to be that Kouaga has, by some means, ob-
tained knowledge of the secret way, and has directed a marauding force
thither. Evidently they have been defeated by the guardians of Mo, and
the remnant of the force—a strong one, too—are retreating, flying for
their lives."
"How do you know there has been fighting?" I enquired.
"Because I can just detect near the banner two wounded men are being
carried."
"Then we must fight and wipe them out," I said.
"Easier said than done," he answered. "But it means life or death to us."
On they came in single file, nearer every moment, and soon I also
could see the dreaded banner of the Mohammedan sheikh Samory. Near
74
the flag-bearer were several wounded men being carried in litters, while
the white-robed soldiers carried long rifles and in their sashes were pis-
tols, and those keen carved knives called jambiyahs. At first our natives,
believing that they were friendlies, went forward enthusiastically, de-
termined to drive them back with banter, there not being room to pass,
but very soon Omar ordered another halt, and turning towards us, cried
in a loud voice in his native tongue:
"Behold, O men of the Dagomba! Yonder are the fighting men of
Samory, who times without number have raided your country, killed
your fathers and sons, and sold your wives and sisters into slavery in
Ashanti. They have endeavoured to enter Mo by the Way of the Thou-
sand Steps, but being defeated by the guardians of our border are flying
towards their own land. We too must fight them, or we must perish."
The air was immediately filled with fierce howls and yells. The an-
nouncement that these men were the hated slave-raiders of Samory
caused an instant rush to arms. Loud cries of revenge sounded on every
side, spears were flourished, knives gripped in fierce determination, and
those who had muskets made certain that their weapons were loaded.
The air was rent by shrill war shouts, and the great drum with its
hideous decorations was thumped loudly by two perspiring negroes
who grinned hideously as they watched the steadily marching force
approaching.
"Courage, men of the Dagomba," sounded Kona's voice above the din.
"Sweep these vermin from our path. Let not a single man escape; but let
them all be swallowed by the Sand-God."
"We will eat them up," cried half-a-dozen voices in response. "Our
spears shall seek their vitals."
"Guard against their onward rush," cried Omar. "They will seek to
throw us off the path by a dash forward. Thwart them, and victory is
ours."
Ere these words had left our leader's lips, the air was again filled by
the wild clamours of my dark companions, and as we had halted just at a
point where we would be compelled to turn at right angles, we remained
there in order to attack the Arabs as they advanced.
The sun's glow had faded, dark clouds had come up on the mystic line
where sand and sky united, and dusk was creeping on apace when the
enemy, sweeping forward, shouting and gesticulating, came within gun-
shot. From their van a single flash showed for an instant, followed by the
sharp crack of a musket, and a bullet whizzed past Omar, striking one of
75
the natives a few yards away, passing through his brain and killing him
instantly.
A silence, deep and complete, fell for an instant upon us. In that excit-
ing moment we knew that the fight must be fiercely contested, and that,
unable to move scarcely an inch from the spot where we were standing,
the struggle must be long and sanguinary.
76
Chapter 15
A NATURAL GRAVE.
The single shot from our opponents was quickly replied to by myself
and my companions, and we had the satisfaction of seeing half-a-dozen
Arabs fall backward from the path and disappear in the soft sand. In-
stantly the rattle of musketry was deafening, and over my head bullets
whistled unpleasantly close. The weapon with which I was armed was
old-fashioned, and as I fired it time after time it grew hot, and the smoke
became so thick that everything was obscured.
Meanwhile fierce hand-to-hand fighting was taking place between the
vanguard of the Arabs and a dozen of our men led by Omar. Fiendish
yells and shouts sounded on every side as they hacked at each other with
their long curved knives, each fearing to step aside lest he should be
swallowed by the sand. Once or twice, as the chill night wind parted the
smoke, I saw Omar and our Dagombas struggling bravely against fearful
odds. Omar had cast aside his gun and, armed with a keen jambiyah, had
engaged two tall, muscular Arabs, both of whom he succeeded in hurl-
ing from the path, gashed and bleeding, to instant death.
Those behind him, armed with long spears with flat double-edged
points similar to the assegais of the Zulus, were enabled to reach and dis-
patch several of the Arabs who had lost their guns or discarded their pis-
tols for their knives. Situated as we were on the angle of the secret path
the enemy were to our right. Their fire upon us was very hot and effect-
ive. Their aim was so true and their bullets so deadly, that very soon
fully a dozen of our brave escort had sunk wounded, disappearing in the
terrible sea of sand.
Suddenly a noise sounded about me like the swish of the sea, startling
me for a second, but instantly I saw what had caused it. The Dagombas
had let loose a flight of poisoned arrows upon our opponents.
From that moment their fire became weaker, and time after time my
companions, kneeling upon the ground, drew their bows and released
those terrible darts, the slightest scratch from which produced tetanus
77
and almost instant death. Each arrow was smeared with a dark red sub-
stance, and their deadly effect was sufficiently proved by the manner in
which the ranks of Samory's men were soon decimated. Dozens of
Arabs, touched by the poisonous darts, staggered unevenly, and falling
to earth sank into the unstable sand, while the red flash of their line of
muskets visibly decreased.
Around Omar our men pressed valiantly, and several with bows dis-
charged their missiles with fatal effect, sweeping away the Arabs one by
one and apparently striking terror into the hearts of the others. Arabs
are not so vulnerable by arrows as other people on account of their volu-
minous robes, which savage weapons seldom penetrate, it being only
head, legs and hands that arrows can reach. Nevertheless so full were the
quivers of our sable escort, that the flights were of sufficient magnitude
to reach the unprotected parts of the Arabs and lay dozens of them low.
One native next me, whose bow had constantly been bent, suddenly
received a bullet full in the breast and was knocked backward off his feet
by the concussion. So swiftly was he swallowed by the shifting sand, that
ere I could glance behind he had already been buried. Of all who fell, not
a single body remained, for if they dropped dead upon the path they
were pushed aside in the mêlée and instantly disappeared. Again and
again our companions sent up their shrill yells and the war-drum was
thumped with ear-piercing effect, while opposition shouts rose from our
Arab enemies. Still the fight continued as stubborn as it had begun.
Omar, with loud shouts of encouragement, fought on with unerring
hand, cutting, thrusting and hacking at his opponents until they
stumbled to their doom, while across our line of vision where the fire of
Arab musketry blazed in the choking smoke, the thin deadly arrows
sped, striking our enemies and sweeping them into a natural grave.
Fearing to tread lest I should fall into the terrible quicksand, I knelt
and kept up a continuous fire with my musket, shooting into the dense
smoke whenever I saw the flash of an Arab gun. It was exciting work,
not knowing from one second to another whether the ping of a bullet
would bring death. Still I knew that to save our own lives we must
sweep away the host of invaders, and, reassured by the knowledge that
Omar had met with no mishap, I kept on, heedless of all dangers, think-
ing only of the ultimate rout of our enemy.
How long the terrible fight lasted I know not. We stood our ground,
the majority of us kneeling, engaging the Arabs in mortal combat for, I
believe, considerably over an hour. Several times the firing seemed so
strong that I feared we should be vanquished, nevertheless the
78
Dagombas proved themselves a valiant, stubborn race, well versed in
savage warfare, for the manner in which they shot their arrows was ad-
mirable, and even at the decisive moment when all seemed against us
they never wavered, but kept on, fierce and revengeful as in the first mo-
ments of the fight.
Gradually, when Omar's voice had been heard a dozen times urging
us on to sweep every invader from our path and not to let a single man
escape, we found our enemy's fire slackening. The smoke, moved by the
sand-laden wind that swept across the plain each night after sundown,
became less dense, and at last we realized that the tide of battle had
turned in our favour, and that we were conquerors.
Then, loud fierce yells rose from the Dagombas and with one accord
we struggled to our feet. Each with his hand upon the shoulder of his
companion in front we moved cautiously forward, shooting now and
then as we went. But the reply to our fire was now spasmodic, and we
were convinced that only a few of the Arabs survived.
For some minutes we ceased the struggle and moved forward, but
suddenly, to our amazement, a long line of muskets again blazed forth
upon us, committing serious havoc in our ranks. We were victims of a
ruse!
This aroused the anger of the Dagombas, who recommenced the fight
with almost demoniacal fierceness, and as the van of both forces
struggled hand-to-hand, we found ourselves slowly but surely gaining
ground until half an hour later we were standing upon the path where
our enemies had stood when they had attacked us, and of that long line
of Samory's picked fighting-men not a single survivor remained.
We had given no quarter. All had been swallowed in that awful gulf of
ever-shifting sand. When we had thoroughly convinced ourselves of this
we threw ourselves down upon the narrow pathway, and slept heavily
till dawn.
When I awoke and gazed eagerly around, I saw that although a num-
ber of our men were wounded, their limbs being hastily bandaged, yet
few were missing. Of our enemies, however, all had either fallen
wounded, or had been hurled from the secret path and overwhelmed by
the sand.
A high wind constantly blew, and I noticed that this kept the grains of
sand always in motion, thus preventing the surface from solidifying.
Waves appeared every moment, ever changing and disappearing in a
manner amazing. At one moment a high ridge would be seen before us,
79
appearing as a formidable obstacle to our progress, yet a moment later it
would be swept away by an invisible force.
The rosy flush of dawn had been superseded by the saffron tints that
are precursory of the sun's appearance when we moved forward again
on our cautious march. Our companions, though far from fresh and
many of them seriously wounded, were all in highest spirits and full of
their brilliant victory. It had indeed been a gratifying achievement, and
now, feeling that at least their gods were favourable to their journey,
they pushed forward with eyes scanning the far-off horizon where lay
the mysterious realm.
During our march that day, Kona, the headman of the Dagombas, on
account of three men behind me having fallen in the fight, occupied a
place immediately at my rear, and thus I was enabled to hold conversa-
tion with him.
"It was a near thing, that fight last night," he exclaimed in the language
that Omar had taught me. "But our arrows wrought surer execution than
the Arab bullets. The desert-dwellers are no match for the forest-people."
"No," I answered. "Your men are indeed brave fellows, and are entitled
to substantial reward."
"I have no fear of that," he said. "The great Naya is always just. She
stretches forth her powerful hand to protect the weaker tribes, and
smites the raiders with sword and pestilence. What her son promises is
her promise. Her word is never broken."
"Have you ever seen her?" I inquired.
"Never. Our king once saw one of her messengers who brought the
royal staff and made palaver. To us, as to all other men outside her coun-
try, she is known as the Great White Queen."
"Tell me what more you know of her?" I urged.
"Very little," he answered. "In every part of the land, from the great
black waters to the Niger and far beyond, even to the sun-scorched coun-
try of the Maghrib, her fame is known to all men. She is rich, mighty and
mysterious. Her power is dreaded throughout the forests and the grass-
plains, and it is said that in her wrath her voice is so terrible that even the
mountains quake with fear."
"By what means do her fighting-men come forth from her unapproach-
able land?" I inquired, remembering that we were travelling by the secret
way known only to herself and Omar.
"I know not," he replied. "The manner in which the hosts of Mo appear
and disappear have, from time immemorial, formed a subject of specula-
tion among our people. That they have appeared on the Ashanti border
80
and sacked and burned many towns in retaliation for some outrages
committed by the Ashantis upon our people is well-known, but by what
route they came or returned is a mystery. Some say they came like flocks
of birds through the air; others declare that they can transfer themselves
from one place to another and become invisible at will. Neither of these
theories I myself believe, for I am convinced that between the land of Mo
and the Great Salt Road there exists a secret means of communication, so
that the armies of the Naya can appear so suddenly and unexpectedly as
to escape the vigilance of their enemy's scouts. Many are the battles they
have fought and great the slaughter. In the slave-land of Samory they en-
gaged twelve moons ago the pick of the Arab army, and defeated them
with appalling loss. It is said, too, that they carry some of the strange
guns made by your people, the white men."
"You mean Maxims," I said.
"I know not their name, nor have I ever seen one," he answered. "I
have heard, however, from a Sofa who fought against the English in the
last war, that the weapons are so light that a man can easily carry one,
and that when fired they shed streams of bullets like water from a spout.
A single gun is equal to the fire of two hundred men. Truly you white
men possess many marvels."
"Yes," I said, smiling at his unbounded admiration for the weapon.
"But is it not strange that the Naya should also possess similar marvels?"
"No. Everything is strange in the land of the Great White Queen. It is
said to be a country full of amazing mysteries. Many are the extraordin-
ary stories related by my people of the wonders of Mo; wonders that we
shall ere long witness with our own eyes."
"What are the stories?" I asked, keenly interested. "Tell me one."
"There are so many," he answered, "I do not know which one to tell.
One, however, will illustrate the awe with which the Naya is regarded,
even by the powerful Prempeh, King of Ashanti. A story is current that
one day, many moons ago, the King had ordered a great 'custom' to take
place in Kumassi. War had been declared against the Queen of the Eng-
lish, and in order to obtain the good graces of the fetish a thousand
slaves were ordered to be sacrificed. All was ready and the king sat upon
his stool awaiting the decapitation of the first victim, when suddenly
there swept down from above a large white dove, which, after circling
for a moment above the monarch's umbrella, perched upon the edge of
the execution bowl. The executioner swept it aside with his ready sword,
but in an instant, by some invisible power, the broad-bladed weapon
fused and melted as if in a furnace, while the executioner himself, struck
81
down as if by lightning, fell upon his face stone dead. Still the dove re-
mained where it had perched with its head turned towards the ruler of
the Ashantis. A second executioner, ere it was discovered that the first
was dead, struck at the bird with his hand, and he too, as well as a third
and fourth, were similarly smitten with death. 'It is an evil omen!' the
people cried, and Prempeh, his eyes rivetted upon the white, innocent-
looking bird, trembled. Suddenly, one of the sages at the king's right
hand cried: 'See, O Master! It is the Great White Queen, the ruler of Mo!
She taketh the form of a dove when she seeketh the destruction of her
enemies!' Then spake the dove, saying: 'Yea, O hated king who sheddeth
the blood of the innocent and exalteth the guilty. The sacrifice of victims
to the fetish shall not avail thee, for I, Naya of Mo, tell thee that thy
downfall is at hand, and thine enemies the English will press their way
from the great sea, bridge the Prah, and cut a road across the great forest
to this thy capital, where thou shalt make abject submission to their
head-man and shall be carried into degrading captivity by them. Thy
treasures shall be seized, the tombs of thy fathers shall be opened and
desecrated, thy fetish-trees shall be cut down and thy slaves shall revel
in thy palace. And it is I, in my present form, who shall guide the white
men unto their victory.' The king, dumbfounded at these ominous words
proceeding from the beak of a bird, rose to retort, but ere a word left his
mouth the dove spread its wings and flew away northward in the direc-
tion of the land we are now approaching."
"That's merely a tale," I observed, laughing at this latest illustration of
the African's belief in the impossible.
"Of course. You asked me for one of the stories told by our people,"
Kona said. "I have told you one."
"Do you believe that this Great White Queen is invested with such ex-
traordinary power that she can cause herself to be invisible, and while
bringing destruction to her enemies, assist her friends?" I asked.
"I know not what to believe," he replied in honest bewilderment. "So
many are the tales I have heard that I find it impossible to believe all,
and have ended by disbelieving most. Many of the men with us firmly
believe at this moment that the Naya, invisible, is at our head guiding
her son across the Way of the Thousand Steps, and that to her our vic-
tory last night was due. Our fate lies in her hands."
"Well," I answered, amused, "it matters not who leads us so long as we
enter the promised land. At any rate we could have no better nor more
trustworthy guide than he who is at our head."
Next second, a loud cry from Omar attracted our attention.
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Chapter 16
WORDS OF FIRE.
Raising our eyes from the straight narrow path whereon we set our feet
in the footprints of those before us, we halted and looked eagerly ahead.
We had come to the edge of what seemed a shallow depression, and
already Omar had disappeared from view, followed cautiously by those
immediately behind him. Owing to the cries of warning and astonish-
ment from each man who reached the edge, I advanced, carefully follow-
ing my black companion in front until I at length gained the spot where
the path ended.
Involuntarily a cry of amazement escaped me. I looked over into a
fearful abyss. Below was a fertile valley, but so deep was it that the river
looked only like a silver thread, and the trees but an inch in height. I was
standing on the edge of a huge granite cliff that went down sheer into
the valley, its face almost as flat as the side of a house.
The descent appeared terrible. I shuddered as I looked over, and Kona,
who came behind me, also peeped down and cried:
"See! It is the Great Gulf about which we have heard. Into this the
Naya hurls her enemies."
On the opposite side, about a quarter of a mile distant, gigantic over-
hanging crags rose from the valley to a height greater than the rock
whereon we were kneeling. At a glance we could both see that to scale
the wall of rock opposite would be impossible owing to its overhanging
nature, therefore, we concluded that our way lay along the fertile valley
where the cool welcome green refreshed our eyes.
Already Omar and a couple of dozen of our black followers were care-
fully swarming down the face of the rock. Now and then warning shouts
arose from them, and ever and anon Omar's voice could be heard giving
directions, or urging caution. The latter was certainly necessary, for a
single false step would mean a terrible death.
As I gazed down into the deep abyss I felt my head reeling. There is a
fascination in great heights that impels one to thoughts of self-
83
destruction. A sudden dizziness seized me as I placed my foot over the
edge of the fearful precipice, and were it not for Kona, who, noticing my
condition, gripped me by the arm, I should have certainly missed my
footing and been dashed to pieces on the needle-like crags at the base.
The sudden knowledge that I had been within an ace of death caused
me to hold my breath; then I crept cautiously over the edge. For a mo-
ment, with my hands clutching frantically upon a jutting piece of rock,
my legs swung in mid air, failing to find a foothold, and I cried out, fear-
ing lest I should again fall. But at last my feet struck against a projection,
and upon it I carefully lowered myself, while Kona also swung himself
over, taking the perilous position I had a moment before occupied.
Again and again I lowered myself, gripping on to the successive projec-
tions, and lowering myself until my feet touched the one below, thus
descending as Omar had done.
"Be careful, Scars," he presently cried from far below. "Drop straight,
and look to your footing."
His words caused me to reflect upon the strange fact that each of these
projections, almost like natural steps, were placed immediately below
one another. Whether they were actually natural formations, or whether
they were the work of man I could not determine. Yet they seemed inter-
minable, and sometimes so far apart that I remained stationary, fearing
to let myself go until, urged downward by Kona, I held my breath, and,
steadying myself, dropped upon the narrow ledge below. Dreading a re-
currence of giddiness I dared not to look down at my companions. My
bare feet and hands were blistered and cut by the sharp edges of the
rocks, and my movements were seriously hampered by the musket slung
at my back.
The descent was terribly fatiguing. The way across the quicksands had
been so level that we had walked, counting our paces mechanically, but
now in every movement there was danger, and terror gripped my heart
with a gauntlet of steel. From every pore there broke from me a cold per-
spiration, as from each tiny projection I lowered myself, not knowing
whether my feet would find another resting-place. For my black com-
panions, who were taller and more muscular, the way was not nearly so
difficult, and Kona, aware of this, assisted me whenever possible.
Once, when I found myself progressing well, and apparently having
successfully negotiated the more dangerous of these natural steps, I
paused for a few moments to breathe, and, summoning courage, looked
down to where the others were scrambling below. I was then amazed to
discover that, notwithstanding all the fatigue, the distance I had covered
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was scarcely perceptible. I still seemed almost as far from the base of the
rock as I was when first I had peered over into the abyss. Suddenly,
without warning, I felt the rock give way beneath my feet, and the next
instant the whole projection, loosened by the weight of Omar and his fol-
lowers who had preceded me, fell away beneath me, and crashed
straight down into the valley.
My presence of mind caused me just at that instant to grip the ledge
above, otherwise I, too, must have gone with my unstable resting-place.
It was indeed a narrow escape, and as clinging on with my hands, my
legs again swinging in mid air, I heard the heavy rock, weighing perhaps
a ton, strike a projection under me and then crash down, carrying all be-
fore it.
There was an appalling shriek from below, and I dreaded to turn my
gaze downward, fearing that my companions had been swept away by
the great mass of stone. At last, however, I looked in trepidation and was
gratified to notice that the projection struck by the rock had been left by
the man preceding me, and that the course of the descending stone had
been altered so that all had escaped.
"Careful up there!" shouted Omar angrily. "Don't spring upon the
steps, or they will become loosened like that one. It might have swept the
whole lot of us into the valley if its course had not been turned. Lower
yourselves slowly—very slowly—take plenty of time."
"I did it, Omar," I cried breathlessly. "It was an accident. I could not
avoid it, and nearly fell, too."
But it was apparent that my voice did not reach him, for he slowly
lowered himself over the next projection, and continued giving direc-
tions to the men who followed, while I, with the next ledge fallen away,
was compelled to let myself drop a distance of about nine feet on to one
that seemed far below.
From that point the descent became much easier, although during the
two hours it occupied I stumbled and nearly lost my foothold many
times. My feet and hands were covered with blood, my elbows were
severely grazed, and from my knees the skin was torn by the constant
scrambling over the edges of the ledges.
Truly the approach to the Land of the Great White Queen was fraught
with a myriad dangers.
When about half-way down the steep rock another piercing shriek
broke forth immediately below me, and glancing down I saw one of our
black companions who had dropped from one ledge to the next lose his
footing, stumble, and fall headlong into the great chasm. Cries of horror
85
escaped us as we saw him strike a rugged ledge of rock far below, re-
bound, and then fall head foremost to the rock's base, his skull already
battered to a pulp.
This terrible lesson was heeded by everyone, and for fully half an hour
the silence was almost complete, save for the gasps and hard breathing
of our followers as they toiled onward down the steep face of the gigant-
ic rock.
Someone cried out that here, as across the quicksands, there were a
thousand steps. If this were true, as I believe it was, then the average dis-
tance between the ledges being about five feet, the height of the rock was
somewhere about five thousand feet. When progress at last became easi-
er, I tried to attract Omar's attention, and inquire whether we should
have to scale the rock opposite, but I could not project my voice far
enough below to reach him. When he shouted I could hear, as his voice
ascended, but he apparently could not distinguish what I said in reply.
Kona, his bow and empty quiver slung behind him, scrambled down
after me ever nimble as a cat. His black skin shone like ebony, but here
and there were cuts from which blood freely flowed, showing that he
too, although inured to a savage life, had not altogether escaped in this
struggle to enter the land unknown.
As we approached the base the ledges became more frequent, and
hastening in my downward climb I at last experienced gratification at
finding the peril past, and myself standing at the foot of the great
precipice.
"Well?" asked Omar, approaching me quickly. "How did you fare?"
"Badly," I answered with a smile. "A dozen times I gave myself up for
lost."
"Care and courage may accomplish everything," he said, laughing.
"Few, however, would care to risk the perils of the Thousand Steps
without a guide, or even if they did, and succeeded in accomplishing the
journey to this point, they could not enter our land."
"Why?"
He turned towards the flat, bare face of overhanging rock opposite,
and gazing up to its towering summit, answered:
"Because our land lies yonder. We must, after resting, ascend."
"How?" I inquired, noticing that the wall of the great cliff was perfectly
smooth.
He smiled.
"Be patient, and you shall see. Only friends can enter Mo; an enemy
never."
86
At that moment Kona desired to consult him regarding our camping
arrangements, and turning I left them and wandered a little way along
the valley. Presently, although its fertility was pleasant, I noticed that the
air had a strange fœtid odour, and, shortly afterwards, while walking in
the long rank grass my feet struck against something, which, on examin-
ation, I found to be the decomposing body of a man. He wore a
burnouse, and from the long-barrelled musket that lay by his side I con-
cluded it was an Arab. As I went forward I discovered bodies scattered
in twos and threes over the grass-plain. Great grey vultures were tearing
the rotting flesh from the bones, feasting upon the carrion. Broken guns,
bent swords and blunted daggers lay about in profusion, while the fur-
ther I went, the more numerous became the hideous bodies which the
long grass seemed to be striving to hide. This was assuredly the battle-
field whereon the army of the Great White Queen had defeated the ex-
pedition sent by Samory. Truly the slaughter must have been appalling,
and little wonder was it that the survivors whom we had met and anni-
hilated should have fought so desperately for their lives.
Judging from the great pile of corpses, the stand made by Samory's
Arabs must have been a dogged and stubborn one, for traces of a most
desperate battle were everywhere apparent, yet their defeat must have
been crushing and complete, for hundreds of the invaders had appar-
ently been mowed down where they had stood. Others had fallen in
hand-to-hand encounters, their limbs slashed and disabled by keener
swords than their own, while many seemed literally riddled by bullets
which could never have been fired by ordinary guns, or if so, at such
close quarters that in nearly every case the balls had passed clean
through their bodies.
The number of corpses lying in the grass were too numerous to count,
but at a rough estimate there must have been several thousands. The air
of that beautiful valley was suffocating on account of the stench they
emitted, and the river was poisoned by the heaps of bodies that had been
hurled into it.
This valley, that had appeared a veritable paradise from the summit of
the rock, was in reality a Valley of Death.
So nauseating was the smell that Omar decided upon pitching the
camp at a point lower down, for so exhausted were we all and so dark
was it growing that it became imperative we should remain there for the
night. So we bivouacked half a mile away from the spot where the Thou-
sand Steps descended, our fire was lit, and after a little food had been
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served out, we threw ourselves upon the grass, and, worn out by fatigue,
slept heavily and well.
The valley was filled with a thick mist that rose from the river, over-
spreading everything and saturating our scanty clothing with moisture,
causing us to be chilly and uncomfortable. It was this fact, perhaps, that
awakened me during the night, when all my companions lying around
were snoring soundly, dreaming most probably, of their triumphant
entry into the land of the great Naya. Becoming fully awake, I heard the
swish of a footstep through the grass, and, raising my head, saw at a
little distance from me Omar, standing alone. With his back turned to me
he was gazing up at the summit of the rock we had yet to gain, bearing
in his hand a fire-brand that had apparently been lit at the dying embers
of our fire. The brand, blazing and crackling, threw his lithe figure into
relief, and I saw that his face wore an eager, anxious look. His gaze
seemed rivetted upon the highest pinnacle of the great rock, as if he had
noticed some unusual aspect.
During several minutes he remained motionless, his eyes fixed in that
direction. At first I was impelled to rise and join him, but not knowing
why, I remained there motionless watching. Presently I heard a loud cry
of joy escape his lips, and with frantic gesture he waved the fire-brand
quickly from left to right, sometimes with a sharp motion, and at others
slowly.
He was signalling to someone on the brow of the precipice!
Open-mouthed I watched the result. The glare of his torch prevented
me from distinguishing the crest of the rock distinctly, yet as I looked in
the direction he was gazing I presently saw far away on the summit, glit-
tering like a brilliant star, a bright light that seemed in answer to Omar's
signals to appear and disappear rapidly, evidently flashing back a reply
from the mysterious realm above.
Suddenly the distant light became totally obscured, and from Omar's
lips there fell an expression of disappointment. His own fire-brand was
burning but dimly, therefore, rushing to the embers, he drew another
from the fire, blew upon it violently until it flamed, and then recom-
menced the puzzling signals, the system of which seemed very similar to
those used in the British Army.
Again and again he repeated the long and short waves of the flaming
torch, but no answering light appeared. All was dark upon the towering
summit, that loomed up black and lonely against the deep vault of dark,
star-lit blue. His was a weird figure, standing in the centre of the circle of
88
uncertain light shed by the flambeau, watching eagerly, and waving his
signals with untiring energy.
"Fools!" he cried aloud to himself. "They are so fearful of treachery that
they feign not to be able to distinguish the name of their ruler."
But ere the words had fallen from his lips the star-like light again
shone forth white, with intense brilliancy, but in a different position. It
seemed to have moved along the brink of the precipice, nearer to us, and
its whiteness had been somehow intensified. In appearance it was very
similar to an electric search-light, and so powerful were its rays that they
streamed forth in a long line of brilliancy that slowly swept the valley
where the corpses of the Arabs lay piled until it reached us, illuminating
our camp with a light almost bright as day.
Several minutes elapsed, and Omar, standing in the centre of the light,
casting a long grotesque shadow behind, continued waving the word he
was so desirous of signalling. In the meantime those who were working
the light had undoubtedly ascertained the extent of our numbers, for
very soon the light slowly travelled over the adjoining rocks, and even
searched the further end of the valley; then suddenly it shed upon us
again, and instantly became obscured.
Nothing daunted, Omar continued his signals until at last they were
evidently noticed and read, for suddenly the light streamed forth again
and commenced a series of vivid flashes that lit up the valley like shafts
of lightning.
Thus came the answer, for next second Omar, overjoyed, and unable
to contain himself, again cried aloud:
"Seen! Hurrah! At last!"
The signals exchanged between those on the lofty summit of the insur-
mountable barrier, and my friend Omar were long, and, to me tedious. I
could make nothing of them, although it was apparent that my old chum
was carrying on an interesting conversation with some person unseen.
Once again the light swept across the silent battle-field, showing, as if
with justifiable pride, the wholesale slaughter that had been there com-
mitted by the defenders, and again fell full upon the son of the dreaded
Naya. Then it flashed quickly many times and suddenly disappeared.
Omar seemed at last satisfied, for, holding the brand before him, he
took from the tiny bag around his neck a pinch of the magic powder that
was included in his jujus, and pronouncing words that conveyed some
mystical meaning, slowly let the powder fall into the flickering flame,
causing it to hiss and splutter.
89
He was sacrificing to the fetish for our deliverance from the perils of
the Way of the Thousand Steps. Even as he stood performing this pagan
rite, there sounded afar off a dull, low boom like the distant report of
heavy cannon. It echoed weirdly along the valley where all was quiet
and at rest, and was three times repeated, like some ominous voice of
warning.
Omar heard it. Surely the noise was an unexpected one, for it instantly
filled him with apprehension, and he listened attentively, little dreaming
that I also was his companion upon this strange midnight vigil.
90
Chapter 17
A SALUTE OF BULLETS.
The low booming was, however, not repeated, and by this my compan-
ion apparently became reassured, for shortly afterwards he threw him-
self down near me to snatch a few hours' repose before dawn. I suppose
I, too, must have slept for some time, until suddenly a noise like thunder
that seemed to cause the earth to tremble awakened me, and together
with the rest of our party I sprang to my feet, fancying that some terrible
earthquake had occurred.
It was still dark, and as each asked breathlessly of his neighbour the
cause of the deafening noise a sudden red flash showed for an instant on
the summit of the rock near where I had seen the light, and a second re-
port thundered forth, making the valley echo and startling the birds in
thousands from their roosting-places.
"We are attacked!" the natives cried. "It is a gun!"
It was a gun undoubtedly. Again it belched forth, its fire causing the
earth to tremble, sending some small shots unpleasantly close, and strik-
ing terror into the hearts of our companions, who started to fly for safety,
expecting each moment that a shower of lead would sweep upon them.
"Stay, cowards!" Omar cried. "Yonder gun fires not with anger, but
with joy. It is my welcome home; its fire is but powder play!"
Then a loud, joyous laugh arose, and the black faces broadened into
great grins, displaying red lips and white teeth.
"Truly the land of the great Naya is a land of wonders!" cried Kona, in
astonishment. "Here they welcome the queen's son by shooting at him.
Surely those shots a moment ago were more than powder play!"
"A mistake no doubt," Omar answered laughing. "Already it is known
in Mo that we are here in the Grave of Enemies, and the guns are being
fired as welcome, while steps are being taken to convey us into yonder
land."
91
"How shall we be conveyed thither?" the headman asked, looking up
puzzled at the bare face of the rock, the summit of which was now ob-
scured by a bank of cloud.
"Wait until sun-rise. Then you will see," answered my friend mysteri-
ously, and as he spoke the blood-red flash showed again and the great
gun thundered forth its salute.
While the dawn was spreading we ate our morning meal with eyes
fixed upon the great high crag whence the gun belched forth with mono-
tonous regularity; then Omar and I strolled away together further up the
valley to occupy our time until the sun-rise. Here I saw for the first time
that natural curiosity, the honey-bird. Omar pointed it out to me. It was a
little grey common-looking bird about the size of a thrush. It first forced
itself upon our notice by flying across our path, uttering a shrill, un-
lovely cry. It then sat on a neighbouring tree still calling and waiting for
us to follow. By short rapid flights the bird led us on and on till we no-
ticed that it stopped its onward course and was hanging about among a
certain half-dozen trees. These we visited one after another and carefully
examined them, our search being rewarded by finding a nest of bees in
each of them. It is a matter of honour with the natives to set aside a good
portion of the honey for the bird. Although this action of the honey-bird
is an established fact in natural history, it would be interesting to know
whether he ever tries to entice quadrupeds also in assisting him in ob-
taining his much-loved honey.
As we walked back to the camp the sun suddenly broke forth, the
clouds rolled away, and on looking up at the point where the guns had
been fired we saw on the summit a number of moving figures, looking
like black specks against the morning sky. Everyone stood watching the
far-off inhabitants of the mysterious realm, wondering how we were to
gain the high overhanging rock that descended sheer to where we stood.
Presently the excitement reached fever-heat when we saw the small
black figures grouping themselves into a mass, and then we noticed that
one man was being slowly lowered by a rope over the precipice. The
rope was apparently passed under his arms, and as he swung out into
mid-air his companions began to let him down rapidly to where we
stood. Owing to the overhanging nature of the rock the wind caused the
man to swing backwards and forwards as a pendulum, and by reason of
hitches that seemed to occur in the arrangements above he was several
times stopped in his descent.
At last, however, his feet touched the ground and headed by Omar,
we all rushed towards him. He was a very tall, loosely-built man, his
92
complexion almost white with just a yellowish tinge, colourless lips, col-
ourless drab hair; vague irregular features, with an entire absence of ex-
pression. He wore an Arab haick upon his head bound with many yards
of brown camel's hair, a long white garment, something like a burnouse,
only embroidered at the edge with crimson thread and confined at the
waist by a girdle containing quite a small arsenal of weapons, while at
his back he carried a rifle of European manufacture, and around his neck
was the invariable string of amulets.
"I seek Omar, son of the Naya, the Great Queen," he cried with a loud
voice, as his feet touched the grass and he disengaged himself from the
swaying rope, which still continued to descend.
"I am Omar, Prince of Mo," answered my friend, stepping forward
quickly.
The messenger from the mysterious realm above regarded him keenly
from head to foot, not without suspicion. Then looking him straight in
the face, he said with a puzzled expression upon his countenance:
"Thou hast altered since thou hast dwelt among the English. Thy face
is not that of Omar who left many moons ago with our Naya's trusted
servant Makhana."
"Yet I am still Omar," he exclaimed, laughing. "Thy caution is com-
mendable, Babila, son of Safad, but as the moon groweth old so does the
boy turn youth, and the youth man."
"Thou knowest my name, 'tis true," observed the messenger gravely.
"But where are thy royal jujus; those placed upon thy neck by the great
Naya in the presence of the people?"
"I fell among enemies who burned them."
"The curse of Zomara be upon them," Babila said. "Who were they?"
"The hirelings of our enemy, Samory."
"Then some have already met with their deserts, for three thousand of
them lie here in this valley," and he pointed to the gruesome corpses
scattered upon the grass. "But hast thou no possession to assure me that
thou art actually the long-absent son of our Naya?" he inquired.
"Thou carriest thy caution a little too far in this affair, Babila," Omar
answered smiling. "True, I have lost my jujus, nevertheless I can answer
thee what questions thou puttest to me regarding my youth and my life
in Mo. I know that thou art determined to satisfy thyself that I am actu-
ally the Prince, ere thou admittest us to our kingdom."
"The caution I exercise is my duty to the great Naya and my country,"
Babila answered. "No invader nor intruder hath ever entered Mo, and
93
none shall while I am chief custodian of its Gate. The bones of many ad-
venturers lie here in this valley."
"Yes, I know that well," Omar answered good-humouredly. "But what
must I do to satisfy thee?" Then turning to me, he exclaimed in English,
"This is amusing, Scars. I am actually prevented from entering my own
country because I have grown a trifle taller!"
"What sayest thou in a foreign tongue?" Babila inquired, with a quick
look of suspicion.
"I commented upon the absurdity of my situation to my companion,
Scarsmere, who has accompanied me from England," Omar answered
frankly.
"Scarsmere," repeated the man from the unknown region. "Scarsmere.
And is he your friend?"
"Yea, my best friend."
"If thou art actually Omar then his friend will assuredly find welcome
in Mo," the man said with courtesy. "But answer the questions I put to
thee. Canst thou tell me anything regarding myself?"
"Well, I think I can," answered my friend with a laugh. "When I was
quite a young lad thou wert one of the guardians of the outer gate of our
palace. Once I was threatened by a ruffianly soldier as I passed, and thou
didst strike him dead with one blow of thy sword. For thy prompt pun-
ishment of the fellow thou wert exalted by the Naya and given com-
mand over her body-guard. It was because thou didst unearth the dast-
ardly conspiracy against her life that thou wert given the custodianship
of the Gate of Mo."
"True," the man answered with a smile of satisfaction. "In one of my
age loss of memory is excusable, yet now on looking closely at thee, I see
the resemblance—yea, I welcome thee home, my lord the prince."
In an instant his manner had changed, and he became the most obedi-
ent of slaves.
"Very well," Omar said. "Now thou art satisfied that I am what I said
we will lose no time in passing the last barrier."
"But these?" Babila inquired, glancing suspiciously at the black rabble
forming our Dagomba following.
"They are my escort," Omar answered. "Every man, from Kona, the
head-man, to the meanest slave, is my trusted servant, and they all de-
serve reward. Each shall enter Mo and receive it at the hands of the Naya
herself. This I have already promised."
"The servants of the lord prince are welcome. The people
shall fête them, and make their days pass as quickly as seconds fly. If
94
thou art desirous they shall enter and be presented to the great Naya be-
fore whose eyes all men quail," Babila said, bowing humbly before his
royal master.
"Then let us not pause. We desire to enter Mo without an instant's fur-
ther delay. The way has been long and the obstacles great, but we have
successfully accomplished all, and seek now to enter the palace of my
queen-mother."
"Thy commands shall be obeyed," the man replied, again salaaming,
and, walking to the rope, he placed the loops under his arm-pits, and a
few minutes later was on his way back to the mysterious land, waving
his hand to us and promising that ere an hour passed we should enter
the realm of the Great White Queen.
With eager upturned faces we watched the cautious custodian of the
mystic kingdom dangling at the end of the rope, gradually leaving us,
until at length he was hauled up upon the far-off summit of the rock and
disappeared among the small crowd collected at the brow. The men
were evidently soldiers, and the eager manner in which they grouped
themselves about Babila when he stepped into their midst, showed what
intense excitement our arrival had caused.
As we watched we soon afterwards saw lowered from the towering
height what appeared at first to be a thin black cord, but which, when
the end fell at our feet, we found to be a ladder of curiously-knotted
ropes about as thick as packing twine, so flimsy in construction that it
seemed as though the weight of a single man would break it.
"Are we to climb to the top?" I asked Omar, who passed me by quickly
in order to examine the ladder.
"Of course," he said.
"But surely these ropes will not bear our weight!" I observed. "They are
only like string."
"Yes, but the core of each is of steel wire of such strength that it would
bear our whole party all together," he answered. "Nevertheless, it is per-
haps best to avoid running risks, so only a dozen shall ascend at a time."
I looked up at the swaying ladder with distrust. I had heard many
stories of ropes chafing on the edges of rocks and being cut through, and
my awful experience in descending the face of the precipice opposite had
been sufficiently terrifying.
"The land of the Great White Queen is, indeed, unapproachable," I
said. "Surely no enemy could invade you?"
"We fear no outside enemy," Omar answered with sudden seriousness.
"It is internal dissensions that may cause trouble. Every precaution is
95
taken here, at the gate of our land, to prevent an enemy from gaining
Mo. The valley is commanded by guns in such a manner that it can be
swept from end to end, so that even if a foe were to succeed in treading
the Way of the Thousand Steps he must descend here and remain under
the fire of the guns."
"I noticed that last night you signalled with a torch," I said.
"Ah! you were awake and did not speak," he laughed. "Yes, I flashed
my name, with a message to the Naya. This was conveyed to her by a
system of signals flashed from one point to another across the country in
similar manner to those of European armies. At night the signals are con-
stantly at work and take the place of your telegraphs. When the message
reached the Naya she sent me a word in return, but even then Babila was
far too cautious to afford us means to enter the country without first in-
specting us himself."
"You've grown a bit, and become more Anglicized since you left," I
said, smiling.
"Yes, possibly," he answered, adding, "I was, however, going to ex-
plain that so elaborate are the precautions against invasion that even
now the ladder has been lowered, nay, even if we were at the top, the
custodians of the Gate could, by simply pressing a button, send a current
of electricity through the wires that form the cores of the ropes of such a
strength, that the ropes and ourselves would almost instantly be fused
into a shapeless mass. See! the ropes are wet, so that the full strength of
the current could, if desired, be turned upon us." And he pulled forward
the ladder and placed it in my hand.
Instinctively I shrank away, saying:
"I have no desire to be electrocuted just yet."
"Well, it's merely one of the many devices we have here for the warm
reception of any enemy," he answered. "The number of bodies yonder
are sufficient proof that any expedition against us must be ill-fated."
But just at that moment a rapid signal was flashed by the sun's rays
upon a mirror, and reading it, he exclaimed in English:
"All is fast above. Come, Scars, old chap, follow me and let me hear
your opinion of my country. Keep your chin raised and don't look down,
or you may turn giddy."
Then, giving directions to Kona to allow only twelve men to swarm
the flimsy ladder at one time, he placed his foot upon the first rung and
commenced the long straight ascent.
As soon as he had climbed a dozen feet I glanced up at the towering
crag, then followed his example.
96
Chapter 18
THE MYSTERIOUS REALM.
So unsteady was the ladder, straining and springing at every step I took,
that I was compelled to grip its wet cords with all the strength of which I
was capable. It swayed to and fro fearfully, and more than once I
dreaded that I should lose my hold and fall backwards to earth.
Omar above me, lithe and active as a cat, climbed on, chaffing me for
my tardy progress, and now and then halting and mischievously shak-
ing the ladder to increase my fear. The higher I ascended the more
strongly blew the wind, until it whistled in the thin ropes and blew
through my scanty clothing, chilling my bones. My hands and feet were
bruised and sore from the previous day's descent, nevertheless I thought
not of pain, only of peril. The climb was long and tedious. Even Omar,
who had commenced by running up like a squirrel in his eagerness to
gain the land from which he had so long been absent, was soon com-
pelled to pause and steady himself, or he would assuredly have been
jerked from his insecure position.
The ten men plodding up after us seemed to be keeping step, causing
the ladder to spring fearfully each time they ascended the next rung.
Omar, himself fearing disaster, at last called to them, but jabbering
among themselves in the highest spirits, each eager to set foot in the land
of mystery, they took no heed of their guide's instructions.
"You fools!" he cried angrily. "Climb slowly and with care. Don't jump
so. We're not on a spring-board."
Useless. We still went up and down like a ball at the end of a piece of
elastic.
"Do you hear?" he shrieked in the Dagomba tongue, halting and look-
ing down at the string of grinning blacks. "Halt!"
This sudden stoppage attracted their attention, and in mid-air he
soundly rated them for their folly, instructing them how to ascend, and
declaring that if they continued their hilarious progress a fearful disaster
must ensue. These words immediately had the desired effect, for which I
97
confess I was very thankful, as I had feared every moment that we
should be dashed into the valley, and now as we went forward again the
ladder was much steadier.
From far below we could hear the distant shouts of Kona and our ex-
cited companions encouraging us and urging us on, for they were all im-
patience to follow us. Now and then the great grey vultures, having
gorged themselves to their full upon the corpses in the valley, circled
around us as if ready to tear us from our perilous position, and more
than once I saw Omar raise his arm to beat them off. We were, I suppose,
passing near their nests and thus aroused their ire.
Looking up, I saw that we were slowly approaching the beetling por-
tion of the enormous rock, but had yet a long distance to climb. Steadily,
however, we all ascended, each grasping the wet slippery cords tightly
to prevent being blown off by the high gusty wind, and even when we
gained the jutting rock believing we had attained the summit, we found
ourselves still fully two hundred feet from where Babila could be seen
peering over awaiting us.
The ladder laying upon the face of the cliff at this point was much easi-
er of ascent, for the weight of the portion below me prevented it from
swaying, and by scrambling up with increased haste I soon found myself
immediately behind Omar.
Then continuing steadily, now and then being compelled to bend
backwards in a most perilous position in order to negotiate a projecting
piece of rock, we together climbed up to the edge of the fearful precipice,
each being lent a willing hand by Babila as we swarmed upon our knees
to where he stood.
"Welcome, O Prince," the old man exclaimed, salaaming when Omar
stood before him. "Welcome to thy white friend from beyond the great
black water."
In an instant from a thousand throats rose cries of adulation, and look-
ing around I saw that drawn up before us was a great concourse of
fighting-men. Some were mounted on magnificent chargers, others were
on foot, and among them were many silken banners each bearing the
same device, a black vampire bat with wings outspread upon a crimson
ground. Each soldier was similarly attired to Babila, with white em-
broidered robe and girdle, and each carried a rifle and a long curved
sword.
Babila was evidently a great man in the estimation of all others, for
whatever he did the soldiers imitated. In appearance they had the ad-
vantage of all coloured and most white races. As a rule they seemed very
98
tall, well set up, with well-formed limbs covered with an almost white
skin, the texture of which would excite envy in the heart of many a
European beauty. The features had nothing in common with the coarse
negro type which prevailed in the forest and over the grass-lands, but
rather inclined towards a Semitic type. Thick lips were the exception, not
the rule, and a broad flat nose was also a rarity. The only sign of barbar-
ity was in the hair which, when the head was not clean shaven, was al-
lowed to grow straight out in every direction, giving a very wild appear-
ance to its owner. The hair of some, however, seemed to be softer, for it
hung down to the nape of the neck in long, closely-curled ringlets. The
women, a few of whom were watching us curiously, were all comely,
and, attired in long white robes of a more elaborate pattern than the
men, had their hair enclosed in a dark blue fillet, a difference in the dis-
position of the latter distinguishing between a married and an unmar-
ried woman.
A great tent of yellow silk had been erected near, presumably for our
accommodation. Over it waved the hideous-looking vampire bat, and as
led by Babila with frequent prostrations we entered it, I asked Omar the
meaning of the sable device.
"It is the royal mark of the Sanoms, the same as the lion and the uni-
corn is the crest of your great Queen. The black vampire is the guardian
fetish of our throne."
On entering, Omar walked to a raised daïs whereon two stools were
placed, and taking one invited me to the other. Then, while awaiting the
arrival of our companions, food was brought to us, and we ate and
drank to our full, Babila himself attending to our wants personally.
Neither were our companions forgotten, for they were arranged around
the tent, and squatting upon their haunches ate and jabbered to their
hearts' content.
It was highly amusing to watch the interest with which the natives re-
garded the stolid soldiers of Mo, who stood in long lines, motionless as
statues. They went close up to them, examined them from head to foot,
drew the sword from its sheath, handled it and tried its edge with a
grunt of satisfaction. Then they would replace it, finger the accoutre-
ments, examine carefully what they thought might be gold, and at last,
folding their arms, would stand silent, awe-stricken at the whole effect of
the unknown race.
The denizens of this mysterious country, however, seemed to regard
our natives with supercilious disdain. Probably their contempt had been
engendered by the fact that certain tribes had on several occasions
99
attempted an invasion, and they had from their formidable heights
simply swept them out of existence as easily as a fly may be crushed
with the finger. When looking at the handsome women, the enormous
mouths of the Dagombas would widen into broad grins which, intended
to convey an expression of delight, in reality rendered them hideous.
For three hours we remained in the tent, sheltered from the sun's glar-
ing heat, while parties of a dozen of our followers continued to arrive. It
was Omar's intention to enter the capital with the whole of our faithful
band, otherwise he would have started immediately we had gained the
summit. Babila urged him to do so, but he expressed a desire that Kona
and his heroic blacks should accompany us.
At last the whole of the party had gained the top of the rock and had
refreshed themselves after their toil and peril; the rope ladder with its
hidden electric wires had been hauled up, and, headed by men blowing
loud blasts upon great horns of ivory and gold, we all moved forward, a
most imposing and magnificent cavalcade.
Both Omar and myself had been mounted on fine milk-white horses
with gay trappings of silver and royal blue, while behind us came Kona
with a very unsteady seat upon a long raw-boned stallion. He was evid-
ently not used to horses, and the way he clutched at the mane each time
his animal trotted convulsed both his men and the soldiers in the vicinity
with laughter.
A shady march of two days in a north-westerly direction up the bank
of a babbling stream brought us to higher land. The journey was un-
eventful, the country being devoid of both game and people. We saw old
traces of habitation, it is true, but the people seemed to have been driven
away or killed, leaving only the empty stone-built houses. From the hill
on the side of which we pitched our camp a marvellous view was obtain-
able. To the north a black forest extended as far as the eye could reach,
broken only by three small hills that served as landmarks. To the west
rolled some giant snow-capped mountains, while the range whereon we
stood was a low, stone-covered stretch of round-topped hills, flanked by
thick mimosa jungle and filled with rhinoceros. Wherever we went, we
found traces of them, their feeding ground being apparently restricted to
a very small area. Never having been hunted, they probably found no
reason to leave such excellent pasture, and it was little wonder that Kona
and his men were anxious to remain behind and commit havoc amongst
them.
On the third day we encamped near a most extraordinary place. It was
a small valley about thirty-five feet below the surrounding ground,
100
looking like the dry bed of a stream, and was about a mile in
circumference.
"Come, I want to show you Zomara's Wrath," Omar said, and dis-
mounting we went together towards it, notwithstanding the loud cries of
warning that arose on every side. A dog—a lean, hungry, strange-look-
ing brute, who accompanied the troops—bounded after us, and as we
approached the place I noticed a suffocating smell, and was attacked by
nausea and giddiness. A belt of this fœtid atmosphere surrounded the
valley. We, however, passed through it, and in purer air, with hands still
over my nose and mouth, was permitted to view the awful spec-
tacle—for it was awful.
The entire bed of the valley seemed like one solid rock, but scattered
over the barren floor were skeletons of men, wild hogs, deer, rhinoceros,
lions, and all kinds of birds and smaller animals. I could discover no hole
or crevice in any place whence the poisonous fumes were emitted. I was
anxious to reach the bottom of the valley, if possible, but my suggestion
was at once negatived by my companion, who said:
"To go further is certain death. Come, let us return quickly, or we may
be overpowered. This is one of the natural wonders of our land."
I determined, however, to see what the fumes smelled like, and,
greatly to Omar's horror, started to descend. The dog was with me, and
as soon as he saw me step over the side of the bank he rushed down
ahead of me.
I endeavoured to call him back, but too late. As soon as the animal
reached the rocky bed below he fell upon his side.
He continued to breathe a few moments only, then expired.
101
Chapter 19
THE CITY IN THE CLOUDS.
"There is a strange story connected with this place known to us as
Zomara's Wrath," Omar said, when together we turned away and moun-
ted our horses to ride back to the camp.
"Relate it to me," I urged eagerly.
"To-night. After we have eaten at sundown I will tell you about it," he
answered, and spurring our horses we galloped quickly forward.
When we had eaten that evening and were seated aside together, I re-
minded him of his promise.
"It is a story of my ancestors, and it occurred more than a thousand
years ago," he said. "Ruler of the great kingdom of Mo, King Lobenba
had no children. The three queens observed fasts, kept vows, made offer-
ings to the fetish, all to no effect. By a lucky chance a great hermit made
his appearance in our capital. The King and queens received the visitor
at the palace, and treated him with the most generous and sincere hos-
pitality. The guest was very pleased; by a prompting of the fetish he
knew what they wanted, and gave them three peppercorns, one for each
queen. In due time three sons were born, Karmos, Matrugna, and Faus-
alya, who when they reached a suitable age married by the ceremony of
'choice,' daughters of a branch of the royal family. When the brides ar-
rived at their husbands' family and were disciplined in their wifely du-
ties, King Lobenba, who was growing old, thought the time had arrived
for him to make over the royal burden to younger shoulders, and to ad-
opt a hermit's life preliminary to death. So in consultation with the royal
fetish-man, a day was appointed for the coronation of Prince Karmos,
who had married a beautiful girl named Naya. But the fates had willed it
otherwise. Long before the children were born, when King Lobenba, in
his younger days, was subduing a revolt in this region where we now
are he once fell from his chariot while aiming an arrow, and got his arm
crushed under the wheel. The three queens had accompanied their royal
husband to the battlefield to soften for him the hardships of his camp
102
life, and during the long illness that followed the wound, Queen Zul-
nam, who afterwards became mother of Fausalya, nursed him with all
the devotion of a wife's first young love. 'Ask me anything and thou
shalt have it,' said the monarch during his convalescence. 'I have to ask
only two favours, my lord,' she answered. 'I grant them beforehand.
Name them,' he cried. But she said she wished for nothing at that time,
but would make her request in due course. She waited twenty years.
Then she repaired to her husband on the morning of Karmos' coronation
and boldly requested that the prince should absent himself for fourteen
years, and that her son Fausalya should be crowned instead."
"She was artful," I observed, laughing.
"Yes," he went on. "The words fell like a thunder-bolt upon the king,
the light faded from his eyes and he fainted. Nevertheless, Zulnam's
wish was granted, and Karmos' departure was heartrending. To soften
the austerities of forest life, Prince Matrugna tore himself from his
newly-married bride to accompany Karmos. But the hardest was to be
the latter's wrench from his devoted Naya. The change from a most ex-
uberant girlish gaiety to quivering grief, and the offer of the delicately-
nurtured wife to share with her lord the severities of an exile's life are of-
ten told by every wise man in Mo. Fourteen long years Karmos spent in
exile with his beautiful wife as companion, until at last they were free to
return. The home-coming was one long triumph. The people were mad
with delight to welcome their hero Karmos and their beloved Naya. Kar-
mos was crowned, and then began that government whose morality and
justice and love and purity have passed into the proverbs of my race.
There was, however, one blemish upon it. Poor Naya's evil genius had
not yet exhausted his malevolence. A rumour was spread by evil tongues
that she was plotting to possess the crown, and Karmos, sacrificing the
husband's love, the father's joy, to his kingly duty, while standing on that
spot we have visited to-day—then his summer palace surrounded by
lovely gardens—pronounced sentence of exile upon her. But in an in-
stant, swift as the lightning from above, the terrible curse of Zomara fell
upon him, striking him dead, his magnificent palace was swept away
and swallowed up by a mighty earthquake, and from the barren hole,
once the fairest spot in the land, there have ever since belched forth
fumes that poison every living thing. It is Zomara's Wrath."
"And what became of Naya, the queen?" I asked, struck with the re-
markable story that seemed more than a mere legend.
"She reigned in his stead," he answered. "Whenever we speak of the
Nayas we sum up all that is noble and mighty and queenly in
103
government, its tact, its talent, its love and its beneficence, for every
queen who has since sat on the Great Emerald Throne of Mo has
been named after her, and I am her lineal descendant, the last of her
line."
That night we rested on soft cushions spread for us in our tent, and
marching again early next morning, spent the two following days in
crossing a great swamp, which, rather than a miasmatic death-hole, was
a naturalist's paradise. As our horses trod the soft, spongy ground, a
majestic canopy of stately cypress, mangrove and maple trees protected
us from the burning sun, and the sweet-scented flowers of the magnoli-
as, azaleas and wild grapes added fragrance and beauty to the scene.
Flies, snakes and frogs were very numerous, but gave us little trouble,
nevertheless, I was not sorry when at dawn on the third day after
passing the strange natural phenomenon we saw across the level
pasture-like plain, high up, spectral and half hidden in the grey haze, the
gigantic walls and high embattlements of the mysterious city.
"Lo!" cried Omar, who was riding at my side. "See! At last we are with-
in sight of the goal towards which we have so long striven. Yonder is
Mo, sometimes called the City in the Clouds!"
"But for your courage we must have failed long ago," I observed, my
eyes turned to where the horizon closed the long perspective of the sky.
Away there was the sweetest light. Elsewhere colour marred the simpli-
city of light; but there colour was effaced, not as men efface it, by a blur
or darkness, but by mere light. And against it rose, high and faintly out-
lined, the defences of the great unknown city standing on the summit of
what appeared to be a gigantic rock. "Magnificent!" I exclaimed, en-
tranced by the view. "Superb!"
"It is, as you see, built high upon the rock known as the Throne of the
Naya," Omar explained. "Although founded a thousand years ago by the
good queen about whom I told you, no stranger has ever yet set foot
within its gates. From time to time our monarchs have sent their trusty
agents among civilized nations, gathered from them their inventions,
and introduced to us the results of their progress. Isolated as we are from
the world, we are nevertheless enlightened, as you will shortly see."
I was prompted to make some observation regarding his paganism,
but held my peace, knowing that any reference to it wounded his sus-
ceptibilities. In everything except his belief in the fetish and his trust in
the justice of the Crocodile-god, he was my equal; and I knew that, on
more than one occasion, he had been ashamed to practise his savage rites
in my presence. Therefore I hesitated, and, as we rode along, the outline
104
of the great city, perched high upon the rock, growing every moment
more formidable and distinct, I listened to the many interesting facts he
related.
Kona, who followed us, listened with strained ears, and our Dagom-
bas were one and all laughing and keeping up a Babel-like chatter that
showed the intense excitement caused among them by the sight of the
mysterious capital of the Great White Queen.
We had struck a broad well-made road, and now, as with hastening
steps we approached it, we could distinguish quite plainly the inaccess-
ible character of the high rock that rose abruptly a thousand feet above
the plain crowned by the frowning walls of immense thickness that en-
closed the place. Beyond, rose many lofty towers and several gilded
domes which, Omar told me, were the audience-halls of the great palace,
and immediately before us we could see in the walls, flanked on either
side by great strong watch-towers, a closed gate.
From where we stood we could distinguish no means of approach to
the impregnable fortress, but on coming at last to the base of the rock we
found a long flight of narrow steps mounting zig-zag up its dark, moss-
grown face. When the cavalcade halted before them our trumpeters blew
thrice shrill blasts upon their big ivory horns, and like magic the ponder-
ous iron gate far above instantly swung open, and the walls literally
swarmed with men, whose bright arms glittered in the sun. Above,
where all had been silent a moment before, everything was now bustle
and excitement as Babila sprang from his horse and commenced to
mount the long flight of steps, followed by myself and my companion.
So steep were these stairs cut in the rock that an iron chain had been
placed beside them by which to steady one's-self.
"Are there again a thousand steps?" I asked Omar.
"Yes," he said. "Naya, wife of Karmos, had them cut under her person-
al supervision. There are exactly a thousand—the number of generations
which, she declared, should flourish and die ere Mo be conquered."
Then without further words we eagerly continued our upward climb
to the mystic City in the Clouds.
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Chapter 20
THE GREAT WHITE QUEEN.
Gaining the summit and entering the ponderous gate closely behind old
Babila, I was amazed at the bewildering aspect of the gigantic city. As
Omar placed his foot upon the top step, great drums, ornamented by
golden bats with outspread wings, were thumped by a perspiring line of
drummers, horns were blown with ear-piercing vehemence, and the
huge guns mounted on the walls thundered forth a deafening salute.
Then, as we walked forward along the way kept clear for us through
the enormous crowd of curious citizens, Babila at last met the tall,
patriarchal-looking man in command of the city-gate.
"Lo!" he cried. "With our Prince Omar there returneth a retinue of
strangers. This one," indicating myself, "is from the land of the white
men that lieth beyond the great black water. The others are from the bor-
ders of Prempeh's kingdom."
"Art thou certain there are no spies among them?" asked the man,
glancing at me keenly in suspicion.
"I, Omar, Prince of Mo, vouch for each man's honesty," exclaimed my
friend, interrupting. At these words the chief guardian of the gate bowed
until his long white beard swept the ground, and we passed on, followed
by Kona and our black companions, in whom the denizens of the mys-
terious place seemed highly interested, never before having seen negro
savages.
Now and then as we passed along voices raised in dissension that
strangers should be admitted to the inaccessible kingdom reached our
ears, but these were drowned by the wild plaudits of the crowd. On
every hand Omar was greeted with an enthusiasm befitting the heir to
the Emerald Throne, and he, in response, bowed his head from side to
side, as with royal gait he strode down the broad handsome thorough-
fare. The buildings on either hand were magnificent in their proportions,
built of enormous blocks of grey stone finely sculptured, with square or-
namented windows. Apparently the manufacture of glass was unknown,
106
for all the windows were uniformly latticed. Here and there through the
open doors we caught sight of cool courtyards, with trees and plashing
fountains beyond, while from the flat roofs that here seemed to be the
principal promenade of the ladies, as in Eastern lands, white hands and
bejewelled arms waved us dainty welcome.
Across a great market square, where slaves were being bought and
sold, and business was proceeding uninterruptedly, we passed, and as
we glanced at the unfortunate ones huddled up in the scanty shadow,
we remembered the day when we, too, had been sold by our bitter and
well-hated enemy, Samory. I smiled as I reflected what terrible revenge
this great army of the Naya could wreak upon the Arab chief, and found
myself anticipating the day when the soldiery of Mo should gather be-
fore the old villain's stronghold.
Kona, who had come up beside me, walked on in silent amazement.
He knew nothing of civilization, and the sights he now witnessed held
him dumb. The African mind is slow to understand the benefits of civil-
ization and modern progress, unless it be the substitution of guns for
bows and bullets for arrows. At last we turned a corner suddenly, and
saw before us, rising against the intensely blue sky and flashing in the
brilliant sunlight, the three great gilded domes of the royal palace.
"Gold!" cried Kona, in an awed tone. "See!" and he turned to several of
his sable brethren. "See! they build their great huts of solid gold! What
treasure they must have!"
As we advanced in imposing procession, the great gate of this royal
residence, grim and frowning as a fortress, over which a large flag was
floating, bearing the sign of the vampire bat, opened wide, and, unchal-
lenged by the crowds of gaily-dressed soldiers drawn up in line and sa-
luting, we went forward amid vociferous cheering.
Ours was indeed a progress full of triumph and enthusiasm. The heir
to the throne, long since mourned for as lost, had returned, and the loyal
people were filled with great rejoicing. Through one spacious courtyard
after another we passed, always between long lines of stalwart men-at-
arms, bearing good English rifles and well-made accoutrements, until,
ascending a short flight of wide steps of polished black stone, we found
ourselves in a great hall beneath one of the gilded domes that had so im-
pressed our head-man. Before us was a huge curtain of purple velvet
that screened from view the further end of the hall, but when all had as-
sembled and stood grouped together, this drapery was suddenly lifted,
disclosing to our gaze a sight that filled us with greatest wonder and
amazement.
107
The central object was the historic Emerald Throne, a wonderful
golden seat so thickly encrusted with beautiful green gems as to appear
entirely constructed of them. Some of the stones were of enormous size,
beautifully cut, of amazing brilliance and fabulous value. Above, was
suspended a golden representation of a crocodile—the god Zomara.
Lolling lazily among the pink silk cushions was a woman, tall, thin-faced
and ascetic, with a complexion white as my own, high cheek bones,
small black, brilliant eyes, and hair plentifully tinged with grey. Her per-
sonality was altogether a striking one, for her brow was low, her face
hawk-like, and her long, bony hands resting on the arms of the seat of
royalty seemed like the talons of the bird to which her face bore
resemblance.
It was the Naya, the dreaded Great White Queen!
Her robes of rich brocaded silk were of a brilliant golden yellow, heav-
ily embroidered with gold thread, and thickly studded with various jew-
els. In the bright flood of sunlight that struck full upon her from the
painted dome above, the diamonds and rubies enriching her handsome
corsage gleamed and flashed white, green and blood-red. Indeed, so
covered was her breast by the fiery gems that as it heaved and fell their
flashing dazzled us; yet in her eyes was a cruel, crafty gleam that from
the first moment I saw her roused instinctively within me fear and
suspicion.
No smile of welcome crossed her cold, implacable features as her gaze
met that of her son Omar; no enthusiastic or maternal greeting passed
her lips. Her maids of honour and courtiers grouped about her mur-
mured approbation and welcome as the heavy curtains fell aside, but
frowning slightly she raised her bejewelled claw-like hand impatiently
with a gesture commanding silence, darting hasty glances of displeasure
upon those who had, by applauding, lowered her regal dignity. On
either side black female slaves in garments of crimson silk and wearing
golden girdles, massive earrings and neck chains, slowly fanned the
ruler of Mo with large circular fans of ostrich feathers, and from a pedes-
tal near her a tiny fountain of some fragrant perfume shot up and fell
with faint plashing into its basin of marvellously-cut crystal. The splend-
our was barbaric yet refined, illustrative everywhere of the tastes of
these denizens of the unknown kingdom. The walls of the great hall
were strangely sculptured with colossal monstrosities, mostly hideous
designs, apparently intended to depict the awful wrath of the deity Zo-
mara, while here and there were curious frescoes of almost photographic
finish, the execution of which had been accomplished by some art quite
108
unknown to European civilization. The paving whereon we stood was of
jasper, highly polished, with here and there strange outlines inlaid with
gold. These outlines, a little crude and unfinished, were mostly illustrat-
ive of the power of the Nayas, depicting scenes of battle, justice and
execution.
"Let our son Omar stand forth and approach our Emerald Throne," ex-
claimed the Naya at last, in a thin, rasping voice, moving slightly as she
bent forward, fixing her shining eyes upon us. They glittered with evil.
At the royal command all bowed low in submission, it being etiquette
to do this whenever the Naya expressed command or wish, and Omar,
leaving my side, strode forward with becoming hauteur, and, crossing
the floor as highly polished as glass, advanced to his royal mother, and,
bending upon his knee, pressed her thin, bony hand to his lips.
But even then no expression of pleasure crossed her stony features. I
had expected to witness an affectionate meeting between mother and
son, and was extremely surprised at the coldness of my friend's recep-
tion, having regard to his long absence and the many perils we had to-
gether faced on our entry into Mo.
"News was flashed unto me last night that thou hadst crossed the
Thousand Steps," the Queen said, slowly withdrawing her bony hand.
"Why hast thou returned from the land of the white men, and why, pray,
hast thou brought hither strangers with thee?"
"These strangers are heroes, each one of them," Omar answered, rising,
and standing before the throne. "Every man has already fought for thee,
and for Mo."
"For me? How?"
Then briefly he related how we had met the remnant of Samory's in-
vading force and defeated them, so that not a single fugitive remained.
"These savages fought merely for their own lives, not for me," she said
with a supercilious sneer, regarding the half-clad natives with disdain.
"We in Mo desire not the introduction of such creatures as these."
"Are not my friends welcome?" Omar asked, pale with anger. "A
Sanom hath never yet turned from his palace those who have proved
themselves his friends."
"Neither hath a Sanom sought the aid of savages," answered the Great
White Queen, with a glance of withering scorn.
"Adversity sometimes causeth us to seek strange alliances," my friend
argued. "These men of the Dagomba, Kona, their head man, and
Scarsmere, my friend from the land of the white men, have given me aid,
and if thou accordest them no welcome, then I, Omar, in the name of my
109
ancestors, the Nabas and the Nayas, will give them greeting, and
provide them with befitting entertainment while they are within our
walls."
His words caused instant consternation. The will of the Naya was not
to be thwarted. Her every wish was law; a single word from her meant
life or death. This openly-expressed opposition was, to the court, a most
terrible offence, punishable by death to all others save the heir.
The Naya, her thin lips tightly set and cruelty lurking in the corners of
her mouth, rose slowly with an air of terrible anger.
"Does our son Omar thus defy us?" she asked with grim harshness.
"I defy thee not O queen-mother," answered my friend, clasping his
hands resolutely behind his back, and standing with his legs slightly
apart. "I bring unto thee those who have fought for me, and have been
my companions through many perils, expecting welcome. Were it not for
them I, the last of our regal line, would be no longer living, and at thy
death our kingdom would have been without a ruler."
"Son, the claim of these, thy friends, to my protection is admitted; nev-
ertheless, the stranger, whoever he may be, is by the law of our kingdom
that hath been rigorously observed for a thousand years, debarred from
traversing the Thousand Steps."
As the queen spoke I noticed two gorgeously-attired men behind her,
probably her chief advisers, exchange whispers with smiles of evident
satisfaction.
"Then I am to understand that the Naya of Mo absolutely refuseth to
sanction these my friends to dwell within our walls?" Omar said.
"We forbid these strangers to remain," answered the Queen, crimson-
ing with anger that her son should have thus argued with her. "They are
granted until noon to-morrow to quit our city. Those found within our
land after three suns have set will be held as slaves. I, the Naya, have
spoken."
"As thou willest it, so it will be," answered her son, bowing very stiffly.
Then, turning to us, he said:
"Friends, the people give you cordial welcome, even though the Naya
may refuse to grant you peace. You shall remain——"
"Thou insultest us publicly," cried the Great White Queen, still stand-
ing erect, her black eyes flashing beneath the wisp of scanty grey hair,
and her talon-like hand uplifted. "To utter such words hast
thou returned from the land beyond the black seas? True, thou art my
son, and some day will sit upon this my stool, but for thus opposing my
will thou shalt be banished from Mo until such time as I am carried to
110
the tombs of my fathers. Then, when thou returnest hither, thy reign
shall be one of tumults and evil-doing. The people who now shout them-
selves hoarse because their idol Omar hath returned to them, shall, in
that day, curse thee, and heap upon thee every indignity. May the Great
Darkness encompass thee, may thine enemies break and crush thee, and
may Zomara, the One of Power, smite and devour thee," and as she
uttered these words she held up her long skinny arms to the hideous
golden crocodile suspended over her, muttering some mystic sentences
the while.
Her slaves and courtiers held their breath. The Great White Queen was
cursing her only son. The Dagombas understood this action and stood
aghast, while across the faces of the court dignitaries a few moments
later there flitted faint sickly smiles. The scene was impressive, more so
perhaps than any I had before witnessed. In her sudden ebullition of an-
ger the Naya was indeed terrible.
From her thin blue lips curses most fearful rolled until even her
courtiers shuddered. As she stood, her bony arms uplifted to the image
of what was to her the greatest and most dreaded power on earth, she
screamed herself hoarse, uttering imprecations until about her mouth
there hung a blood-flecked foam, and her long finger-nails were driven
deep into the flesh of her withered palms. All quaked visibly at her
wrath, for none knew who might next offend her and pay the penalty for
so doing with their lives: none knew who might next fall victim to her in-
sane passion for causing suffering to others.
Omar alone stood calmly watching her; all others remained terrified,
fearing to utter a single word.
Suddenly, in her mad passion, she shrieked:
"Gankoma! Gankoma! Come hither. There is still work for thee."
In an instant the chief executioner, a man of giant stature, gaudily at-
tired and bearing a huge curved sword that gleamed ominously in the
sunlight, stood before her, and bowing, answered:
"Your majesty is obeyed."
"There is one who hath betrayed his trust," cried the angry ruler. "To
Babila, guardian of the Gate, we owe this intrusion of strangers in our
land and these insults from the mouth of one who is unworthy to be
called son. Bring forth Babila."
The executioner, sword in hand, advanced to where the trusty old cus-
todian stood. At mention of his name a despairing cry had escaped him.
He knew, alas! his fate was sealed.
111
Pale, trembling in the iron grip of the executioner, he was hurried for-
ward before the dazzling Emerald Throne.
"See! he flinches, the perfidious old traitor!" the Naya cried. "His duty
was to prevent any stranger from entering Mo, yet he actually assisted
yonder horde of savages to gain access to our innermost courts. He——"
"Mercy, your majesty! mercy!" implored the unhappy man, falling
prone at her feet. "I have guarded the Gate with my life always. I be-
lieved that thy son's friends were thine also."
"Silence!" shrieked the Naya. "Let not his voice again fall upon our
ears. Let him die now, before our eyes, and let his carcase be given as of-
fal to the dogs. Let one hundred of his guards die also. Others who
would thwart us will thus be warned."
"Mercy!" screamed the wretched old fellow hoarsely, clasping his
hands in fervent supplication.
"Gankoma, I have spoken," cried the Great White Queen, majestically
waving her hand.
Babila, inactive by age, struggled to regain his feet, but ere he could do
so, or before Omar could interfere, the executioner had lifted his sword
with both hands. The sound of a dull blow was heard, and next second
the head of the Queen's faithful servant rolled across the polished floor,
while from the decapitated trunk the blood gushed forth and ran in an
ugly serpentine stream over the jasper slabs.
A sudden thrill of horror ran through the crowd at this summary exe-
cution of one who had hitherto been implicitly trusted, but only for an
instant was the ghastly body allowed to remain before the eyes of Queen
and court, for half a dozen slaves had been standing in readiness with
bowls of water, and some of these rushing forward carried away the
head and body and flung it to the dogs, while others swiftly removed all
traces of the gruesome spectacle.
Little wonder therefore that the great Naya should be held in awe by
all her subjects, for in her anger she seemed capable of the most fiendish
cruelty. As in Kumassi, so also in Mo, death seemed to come quickly,
and for any paltry offence. Gankoma, executioner to the Great White
Queen, was, I afterwards learnt, continually busy obeying the royal com-
mands, and the rapidly increasing number of victims whose heads fell
beneath his terrible knife was causing most serious discontent.
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Chapter 21
A FIGURE IN THE SHADOW.
An hour after sundown I was seated with Omar and Kona on a mat in
the courtyard of a house not far from the gates of the palace, where hos-
pitality had been secretly offered us. We were discussing the situation.
Our black followers, on leaving the presence of the irate queen, had gone
out in small groups to wander through the wonderful city, having ar-
ranged to meet again at midnight.
The man in whose house we had found shelter was named Goliba, a
staunch friend of Omar's, although one of the royal councillors. As we
sat together this old man with long flowing white beard, keen aquiline
features and black eyes that age had not dimmed, explained facts that
amazed us. He told us that Kouaga, a favourite of the Naya, had been
approached secretly by her as to the advisability of Omar's assassination.
The old councillor had actually overheard this dastardly plot formed by
the queen against her son, for she feared that owing to the harshness of
her rule popular opinion might be diverted in his favour, and that she
might be overthrown, and he set upon the Emerald Throne in her stead.
The Naya had regretted sending Omar away for safety, so giving Kou-
aga a large sum of money, she ordered him to proceed to England and
assassinate the heir. He left, and apparently on his way conceived the
idea that he might, with considerable advantage, play a double game.
Samory, whose secret agent in Mo he was, intended, he knew, to lead a
great expedition against the unapproachable country, its principal object
being to secure the vast treasures known to be concealed within the City
in the Clouds. As Omar alone knew its secret hiding-place it occurred to
Kouaga to convey him to the stronghold of the Mohammedan chief be-
fore assassinating him, and obtain from him the whereabouts of the great
collection of gold and gems. The Naya had ordered that her son should
be killed secretly in England, but this cowardly crime was averted by
Kouaga's cupidity, and we had therefore been enticed to the Arab
sheikh's headquarters. The object of both men being thwarted by Omar's
113
refusal to divulge the secret, we had been sold into slavery and con-
signed as human sacrifices before King Prempeh.
"We'll be even yet with that scoundrel and traitor, Kouaga," Omar
said, turning to me when Goliba had finished.
"If the command be given every man in Mo would go forth against
Samory's accursed hordes," Goliba declared with emphasis, removing
the mouthpiece of his long pipe from his lips. "But how dost thou intend
now to act?" he asked Omar. "Remember thou art banished until the
Naya's death. Let us hope that Zomara will not spare her long to tyran-
nize over our land and to plot against thy life," he added in a half
whisper.
Omar started in surprise. This man, one of the principal advisers of his
royal mother, was actually expressing a wish that she might die! It oc-
curred to me, too, that if her advisers were antagonistic towards her,
might not the poor, oppressed and afflicted people also be of the same
mind?
"Speak, O Goliba," Omar said. "Is the balance of popular feeling actu-
ally against the Naya?"
"Entirely. Within the past few years the loyal spirit hath, on account of
the revolting cruelties practised by thy royal mother, turned utterly
against her. Before thy departure to the land beyond the black water the
loyal feeling was uppermost because of the efforts of Moloto to obtain
the crown. Now, however, that the power of his party is broken and the
Naya, feeling her position invulnerable, hath commenced a reign of ter-
ror, disgust and despair are felt on every hand."
"What must I do?" Omar asked.
"Remain here," the sage replied. "Thou art banished from the royal
presence, it is true, but heed not her words, and remain with thy follow-
ers in Mo. Guard vigilantly against the attempts of secret assassins that
are certain to be made when the Naya is aware of thy defiance, but re-
member thou art heir to the Emerald Throne, and although some of the
regiments may remain loyal unto their queen, the majority of our
fighting-men are thine to command."
Omar knit his brows, and thought deeply for several moments. It was
apparent that this suggestion to oppose the Naya by force of arms had
never before entered his mind.
"Is this really true?" he asked in a doubting tone.
"O Master, let thy servant Goliba perish rather than his word be ques-
tioned. As councillor of thy queen-mother, have I not greater facilities for
testing the popular feeling than any other man in Mo? I swear by
114
Zomara's wrath that what I have uttered is truth. If thou remainest
here—in hiding for a time it may be—thou shalt either be restored to the
royal favour and thy friends recognized, or thou shalt assuredly occupy
the royal stool. The people, living as they do in constan dread of the
Naya's cruelties, would hail with satisfaction any change of rule that
would ensure safety to their persons and property. Thou art their
saviour."
"Take the advice of our friend Goliba," I urged. "Let us remain and
defy her."
"Yea," cried Kona, displaying his even white teeth. "The Dagombas are
here and likely to remain. They will fight and die to a man in thy cause.
I, their head-man, speak for them."
"Is it agreed?" asked Omar, glancing at us.
"It is," we all three answered with one voice, Kona and Goliba finger-
ing their amulets as they spoke.
"Then if it is thy will I shall remain and defy the Naya," Omar
answered, grasping the string of jujus around his neck and muttering
some words I could not catch. "I, Omar, Prince of Mo, am thy leader in
this struggle of my people against oppression and misrule. If they will
declare in my favour I will free them. I have spoken."
"Thou hast until noon to-morrow to quit this city," Goliba said.
"Hasten not thy decision, but what I will show thee secretly ere long will
perhaps convince thee of the terrors of the Naya's reign. I have often
counselled the queen to aspire to the virtues of truth, wisdom, justice
and moderation, the great ornaments of the Emerald Throne, but my en-
deavours have been frustrated and the fruit of my labour blasted."
As the white-bearded sage uttered these words, I noticed that from be-
hind one of the great marble pillars of the colonnade that surrounded the
courtyard of Goliba's fine house a white robe flitted for an instant, disap-
pearing in the fast-falling gloom. At the moment, sitting as we were
smoking and chatting in the open air, the presence of an intruder did not
strike me as strange, and only half an hour later did I begin to fear that
our decision had been listened to by an eavesdropper, possibly a spy in
the service of the terrible queen! When, after due reflection, I imparted
my misgivings privately to Goliba, he, however, allayed my fears, smil-
ing, as he said:
"Heed it not. It was but my slave Fiou. I saw her also as she passed
along."
"Then thou dost not fear spies?" I said.
115
"Not in this mine own house," he answered proudly. "The dwelling-
house of a royal councillor is exempt from any espionage in the Naya's
cause."
This satisfied me, and the incident escaped my recollection entirely un-
til long after, when I had bitter cause to remember it, as will be seen from
later chapters of this record.
Soon after Omar had promised to act as our leader in his country's
cause, Goliba arose, and crossing the courtyard, now lit only by the
bright stars twinkling in the dark blue vault above, disappeared through
a door with a fine horse-shoe arch in Moorish style. Left together, we sat
cross-legged on the mat, a silent, thoughtful trio. Omar had decided to
act on the sage's advice, and none of us knew what the result might be.
That fierce fighting and terrible bloodshed must occur ere the struggle
ended, we felt assured, but with our mere handful of Dagombas we were
certainly no match for the trained hosts of the Naya.
Presently we began to discuss the matter among ourselves. Kona, en-
thusiastic, yet hardly sanguine, wondered whether the people were
armed, and if not, where we could procure guns and ammunition. Omar,
on the other hand, assured us that nearly every civilian possessed a gun,
being bound by law to acquire one so that he might act his part in an im-
mediate defence in case of invasion. He had no apprehensions regarding
the materials for war; he only feared that Goliba might be mistaken in
the estimate of his popularity.
"If they will only stand by me they shall have freedom," he said decis-
ively. "If they do not, death will come to all of us."
"We are ready," Kona answered, his black face glistening in the ray of
light shed by a single lamp lit by a slave on the opposite side of the court.
"We will serve thy cause while we have breath."
A few minutes later footsteps sounded on the paving, and from the
darkness of the colonnade Goliba, accompanied by six other younger
men, all tall, erect and stately, emerged from the shadow and ap-
proached us. Addressing Omar, the sage said:
"All these men are known to thee, O Master. I need not repeat their
names, but they have known thee since their birth, and are of a verity a
power in our land. They have come hither to see thee."
My friend rising gave them greeting, snapped fingers with them, and
answered:
"I forget no face. I remember each, and I know ye are men of might
and justice. Each was ruler of a province——"
116
"All are still governors," interrupted the sage. "They have come hither
to swear allegiance to thee."
"It is even so, O Master," exclaimed one of the men, hitching his rich
cloak of gold-coloured silk more closely around his shoulders. "We have
met and resolved to ask thee to defy the sentence of banishment that the
Naya hath imposed upon thee."
"Already have I decided so to do," Omar answered. "Have I the sup-
port of thy people, O Niaro?"
"To a man," the Governor answered. "For the military we cannot,
however, answer. They are ruled by unscrupulous place-seekers, who
may defend the Naya, expecting to reap rich rewards; but such will as-
suredly discover that their confidence was misplaced. If the Naya seri-
ously threateneth thee and thy friends, then assuredly she shall be over-
thrown and thou shalt ascend the stool in her stead."
"I thank thee for these expressions of good-will," my friend said after
the remaining five had all spoken and assured us of staunch support. "I
remain in Mo with my black companions, and when the time cometh I
am ready to take a stand in the cause against tyranny and oppression."
"May the fetish be good," Niaro said, and as if with one voice they all
cried, "We will offer daily sacrifices for the success of our arms."
Together we then went to a small apartment, well-furnished in Arab
style with mats, low lounges, and tiny coffee-tables, and during the three
hours that followed the more minute details of this great conspiracy
against the tyrannical Naya were discussed and arranged, Goliba acting
as adviser upon various points.
As I sat listening to the conversation I fully realised the seriousness of
the great undertaking upon which we had embarked, and I confess my
confidence in our success was by no means deep-rooted, for it was ap-
parent that in the revolt, if revolt became necessary, the military would
act on the side of the Naya and suppress it with a firm, merciless hand.
What apparently was most feared by our fellow-conspirators was that
in commanding the suppression of the rebellion the Naya would give or-
ders for a general massacre of the people.
To guard against this, Niaro urged the secret assassination of the Naya
immediately preceding the revolt, but Omar, rising with that regal air he
now and then assumed, said:
"Give heed, O my friends, unto my words. I, Omar, Prince of Mo, will
never sanction the murder of my mother. A Sanom hath never been a
murderer. If this step be decided, I shall withdraw from the leadership
and depart."
117
"But canst thou not see, O Prince, that a massacre would strike panic
into the hearts of the people, and they would lay down their arms," Ni-
aro urged.
"We must prevent all bloodshed that is unnecessary," my friend
replied. "I am fully aware that in such a struggle as the coming one it
must be life for life, but I will never be a party to my mother's murder. If
the people of Mo desire the Naya's overthrow on account of her barbar-
ous treatment of her subjects and the bribery and corruption of her offi-
cials, then I, to preserve the traditions of my ancestors, will lead them,
and act my part in their liberation, but only on the understanding that
not a hair of her head is injured."
The men grouped around nodded acquiescence, but smiled.
"When thou hast witnessed how the Naya ruleth her subjects, perhaps
thou wilt not so readily defend her," one of the Governors observed.
"Our ruler is not so just nor so merciful as when thou wert last in Mo.
Go, let Goliba take thee in secret among the people, and only when we
next meet decide the point."
"I will never allow the Naya to fall beneath the blade or poison-cup of
the assassin," Omar said decisively. "A Sanom departeth not from the
word he hath uttered."
After some further discussion this horrible detail of the conspiracy was
dropped, and other matters arranged with a coolness that utterly astoun-
ded me.
We were plotting to obtain a kingdom!
118
Chapter 22
TO THE UNKNOWN.
When, with elaborate genuflections and vows of allegiance, the gov-
ernors of the six principal provinces of the mystic Kingdom had taken
leave of Omar, we remained in consultation with the old sage for up-
wards of another hour. He told us many horrible stories of the Naya's
fierce and unrelenting cruelty. It seemed as though during the later years
of her reign she had been seized by an insane desire to cause just as
much misery and suffering as her predecessors on the Emerald Throne
had promoted prosperity and happiness. In every particular her tem-
perament was exactly opposite to the first Naya, the good queen whose
memory had, through a thousand years, been revered as that of a
goddess.
Goliba explained how, during the past three years, the Great White
Queen had suddenly become highly superstitious. This was not surpris-
ing, for as far as I could gather the people of Mo had no religion as we
understand the term, but their minds were nevertheless filled with ideas
relating to supernatural objects, by which they sought to explain the phe-
nomena about them of which the causes were not immediately obvious.
He told us that the Naya, preying upon the superstitions of the people,
had recently introduced into the country, entirely against the advice of
himself and his fellow-councillors, a number of customs, all of which
were apparently devised to cause death. He told us that if a great man
died his friends never now remained content with the explanation that
he died from natural causes. Their minds flew at once to witchcraft.
Some one had cast an evil spell upon him, and it was the duty of the
friends of the dead man to discover who it was that had had dealings
with the powers of darkness. Suspicion fell upon a certain member of the
tribe, generally a relative of the deceased, and that suspicion could only
be verified by putting the accused to the test of some dreadful ordeal. A
favourite ordeal, he said, was to make the suspected person drink a large
quantity—a gallon and a half, or more—of a decoction of a bitter and
119
slightly poisonous bark. If vomiting occurred, then a verdict of guilty
was passed upon the unfortunate wretch, and no protestations, or even
direct proof of his innocence, could save him from the tortures in store
for him. The victim was condemned to death, and death was inflicted
not swiftly and mercifully, but nearly always with some accompaniment
of diabolical torture.
One method was to hack the body of the wretched person to pieces
with knives, the most odious mutilations being resorted to. Occasionally
the unfortunate creature was tied to a stake while pepper was rubbed in-
to his eyes until the fearful irritation so produced caused blindness. Or,
again, the victim was tied hand and foot upon an ant-hill, and left to the
agonies of being consumed slowly by the minute aggressors. The most
satisfactory death, perhaps, was that when the condemned man was al-
lowed to be his own executioner. He was made much of for an hour or so
before the final scene, and was well fed and primed with palm wine.
Under the excitement of this mild stimulant he mounted a tree, carrying
in his hand a long rope formed of a kind of stringy vine of tough texture.
One end of this rope he fastened to a bough, and the other he placed in a
running knot over his neck. Then, quite pleased at being the centre of ob-
servation of the multitude, even on such a gruesome occasion, the crim-
inal harangued his tribesmen in a great speech, finally declared the
justice of his sentence, and leaped into space. Should the rope break, as
occasionally happened, then the zeal of the executioner overcame the
fear of death of the victim, for he mounted the tree nimbly once more, re-
adjusted the knots, and did his best in the second attempt to avoid the
risk of another fiasco.
"And have such pagan customs actually been introduced during my
absence in England?" asked Omar astonished.
"They have, alas! O Prince," answered the sage. "The people, taught
from childhood to respect every word that falleth from the lips of our
Great White Queen, adopted these revolting customs, together with cer-
tain other dreadful rites, believing that only by obeying her injunctions
can they escape the wrath of the Crocodile-god. As rapidly as fire
spreadeth in the forest the customs were adopted in every part of the
kingdom, until now the practices I have briefly enumerated are
universal."
"But surely my mother could never have devised such horrible suffer-
ing out of sheer ill-will towards our people?"
"Alas! she hath," answered the old man. "If thou believest not my
words, take each of you one of the cloaks hanging yonder, wrap the
120
Arab haicks around your heads and follow me. Make no sign that ye are
strangers, and ye shall witness strange sights amazing."
We all three arose, and quickly arraying ourselves in white cotton
burnouses, wrapping the haicks around our heads in the manner of the
Arabs—a fashion adopted by some in the City in the Clouds—and
pulling them across our faces, so as to partially conceal our features, we
went forth with our guide on the tiptoe of expectation.
"What sight, I wonder, are we going to witness?" I whispered in Eng-
lish to Omar, as we walked together along one of the narrow streets in
the deep shadow so that we might not be detected.
"I know not," my friend answered, with a heavy sigh. "If what Goliba
says is true, and I fear it is, then our land is doomed."
"The power of the cruel Naya must be broken, and you must reign and
bring back to Mo her departing prosperity and happiness," I said.
"I'll do my best, Scarsmere," he answered. "You have been a true, fear-
less friend all along, and I feel that you will continue until the end."
"Till the end!" I echoed. "The end will be peace, either in life—or
death."
"While I have breath I will fight to preserve the traditions of the Nabas
and the Nayas who, while ruling their country, gave such satisfaction to
the people that never once has there been a rebellion nor scarcely a voice
raised in dissent. It has always been the policy of the Sanoms to give
audience to any discontented person, listen to their grievances, and en-
deavour to redress them. The reign of the Naya is, according to all we
hear, one of terror and oppression. The poor are ground down to swell
the wealth of the rich, and no man's life is safe from one moment to an-
other. It shall be changed, and I, Omar, will fulfil the duty expected of
me."
"Well spoken, old fellow," I answered, enthusiastically. "Remember
Goliba's warning regarding the attempts that may be made to assassinate
you, and always carry your revolver loaded. When the Naya hears that
you have defied her she will be as merciless as she was to poor old
Babila."
"Ah! Babila," Omar sighed. "He was one of the best and most trusted
servants Mo ever had. Having been one of my dead father's personal at-
tendants he was faithful to our family, and altogether the last man whose
head should have fallen in disgrace under Gankoma's sword."
"If the punishment she inflicted upon him was so severe for such a
paltry offence, that which she will seek to bring upon you will be equally
121
terrible," I observed. "Therefore act always with caution, and take heed
never to be entrapped by her paid assassins."
"Don't fear, Scarsmere," he laughed. "I'm safe enough, and I do not an-
ticipate that anybody will try and take my life. If they do they'll find I
can shoot straighter than they imagined."
"But they might shoot first," I suggested with a smile.
"I don't intend to give them a chance," he replied. "We must not fear
defeat, but anticipate success. I have made offering to the fetish, and al-
though the struggle must be fierce and unrelenting I am determined to
strike a blow for my country's freedom."
At this juncture Goliba joined us, and urging me not to speak in Eng-
lish lest the strange language might be overheard, we walked together
for about three-quarters of an hour through thoroughfares so wide and
well built that they would have been termed magnificent if constructed
in any European city. Then we crossed a large square where a great
fountain shooting up a hundred feet fell into its bowl, green with water-
plants and white with flowers, and afterwards traversed a maze of nar-
rower streets, now silent and deserted, where dwelt the workmen.
Suddenly Goliba halted before an arched door, and directing us to im-
itate him, knelt and touched the door-step with his forehead, then passed
in. We followed into a place that was strange to even Omar himself, who
was scarce able to suppress an exclamation of astonishment. It was a
small chamber, lit by a single flickering oil lamp of similar shape to those
so often found amid the traces of the Roman occupation of England,
while around were stone benches built into the wall. Walking to the op-
posite side of the narrow, prison-like place, we saw before us an arch
with an impenetrable blackness beyond. Before this arch stood a kind of
frame made of iron resting on either side upon steel ropes raised slightly
from the ground. Following Goliba's example, we got upon it, crouching
in a kneeling position in the same manner as himself.
"Thou wilt find handles, wherewith to steady thyself," he cried to me.
"Have a care that thou art not thrown off."
I groped with my companions, and we found the handles of which he
had spoken. Then, when all was ready, the grave-faced sage raised some
lever or another, and we shot away down, down, down into space with
such fearful velocity that the wind whistled about our ears, our white
robes fluttered, and our breath seemed taken away.
The sensation was awful. In utter darkness we were whirled along we
knew not whither, until suddenly the car whereon we travelled gave an
unexpected lurch, as a corner was turned, nearly precipitating all of us
122
into the darkness beneath, and then continued its downward course with
increased speed, until sparks flew from beneath us like flecks of fire from
a blacksmith's forge, and in our breasts was a tightness that became more
painful every moment.
It seemed as though we were descending to some deep, airless region,
for I could not breathe; the atmosphere felt damp and warm, and the ve-
locity with which we travelled was becoming greater the deeper into the
heart of the earth we went.
"What is this place?" I heard Omar ask. "I know it not."
"Be patient, O Prince, and thou shalt witness that which must astound
thee," old Goliba shouted, his squeaky voice being just audible above the
loud hissing as our car flew along the twisted strands of steel.
Suddenly, above the hiss of our rapid progress, there could be heard
strange noises, as if a hundred war-drums were being beaten, and at the
same instant our curious conveyance gave another sudden lurch in
rounding a corner. At that moment Goliba, in turning to speak with
Omar, had unfortunately loosened his hold of one of the handles, and
the sudden jolt at such a high speed was so violent that our faithful
guide and friend was shot off backwards, and ere Omar could clutch him
he had disappeared with a shriek of despair into the cavernous darkness.
A thrill of horror ran through us when we realised this terrible mis-
hap. Yet nothing could arrest our swift headlong descent, and feeling
convinced that Goliba, our host and adviser, had met with a terrible
death, we sat staring, motionless, wondering whither we were bound,
and how, now we had lost our guide, we should be able to reach the sur-
face again. At the moment Goliba had been flung off we remembered
that the iron frame had jolted and grated, and there seemed no room for
doubt that the generous sage had been mangled into a shapeless mass.
The thought was horrible.
At last, however, we felt the air becoming fresher, and the strange con-
traction in our breasts was gradually relieved as our pace became less
rapid, and distant lights showed before us. Then suddenly we emerged
from the curious shaft down which we had travelled to such enormous
depth, gliding slowly out into a place of immeasurable extent, where a
most extraordinary and amazing scene met our gaze.
Truly, poor Goliba had spoken the truth when he had promised that
what we should witness would astound us.
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Chapter 23
UNDER THE VAMPIRE'S WING.
When our dazzled gaze grew accustomed to the garish blaze of lights we
found ourselves standing in an enormous cavern.
Around us were glowing fires and shining torches innumerable; the
smoke from them half choked us, while above there seemed an immens-
ity of darkness, for the roof of the natural chamber was so high that it
could not be discerned.
Upon one object, weird and horrible, our startled gaze became rivet-
ted. Straight before us, at some little distance, there rose a great black
rock to a height of, as far as I could judge, a thousand feet. Nearly half
way up was a great wide ledge or platform larger than any of the
market-places in the City in the Clouds, and upon this there had been
fashioned from the solid rock a colossal representation of the vampire-
bat, the device borne upon the banners of Mo. Its enormous wings, each
fully five hundred feet from the body to tip, outstretched on either side
and supported by gigantic pillars of rock carved to represent various
grotesque and hideous figures of men and animals, formed great
temples on either side of the body. The latter, however, attracted our at-
tention more than did the wonderful wings, for as we stood aghast and
amazed we discerned that the vast body of the colossus did not repres-
ent that of a bat, but the gigantic jaws were those of a crocodile.
"Zomara!" gasped Omar. "See! It is the great god with the wings of a
bat and the tail of a lion!"
I looked and saw that far behind rose the tufted tail of the king of the
forest. From the two great eyes of the gigantic reptile shone dazzling
streams of white light, like the rays of a mariner's beacon, and every-
where twinkling yellow lights were moving about the face of the great
rock, across the platform whereon the colossal figure rested, even to the
distant summit.
Suddenly, as we stood gazing open-mouthed in wonder, the roar of a
hundred war-drums beaten somewhere in the vicinity of the enormous
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representation of the terrible deity of Mo rolled and echoed to the inner-
most recesses of the subterranean vault, and just as they had ceased we
distinctly saw the giant jaws of the crocodile slowly open. From them
belched forth great tongues of flame and thick stifling smoke that, beaten
down by a draught from above, curled its poisonous fumes around us,
causing us to cough violently. For fully a minute the great mouth re-
mained open, when to our horror we saw a small knot of human figures
approaching it. One loud piercing shriek reached us and at that instant
we saw the figure of a man or woman—we were not close enough to dis-
cern which—flung by the others headlong into the open flaming mouth.
Again the drums rolled, and the next second the jaws of Zomara
closed with a loud crash that sent a shudder through us.
"The sacrifice!" gasped Omar. "This, then, is one of the horrible cus-
toms that Goliba told us had been introduced by my mother, the Great
White Queen!"
"Horrible!" I exclaimed. "That fearful cry will haunt me to my dying
day."
"Let us return," said Kona. "We have witnessed enough, O Master."
"No," Omar answered. "Rather let us see for ourselves the true extent
of these terrible rites. Goliba, though, alas! he is lost for ever, intended
that we should."
"Very well," I said. "Lead us, and we will follow."
At that moment footsteps, pattering as those of children, reached our
ears and there ran past us half a dozen hideous half-clad dwarfs. They
were tiny, impish-looking creatures about three feet six high, with darker
skins than the inhabitants of this mystic land, but their faces were white-
washed in manner similar to those of the royal executioners of Ashanti,
and wore their crisp black hair drawn to a knot on top similar to the
fashion affected by some savage tribes. As they rushed past us their little
black eyes, piercing and bead-like, regarded us curiously, and with, we
thought, a rather menacing glance; nevertheless they continued their
way, and watching, we noticed the spot where they commenced the toil-
some ascent to the platform whereon stood the colossus.
"Such a work as that must have taken years to accomplish," I observed
to Omar.
"With the Sanoms of Mo everything is possible," he answered. "The
ruler of our country is a monarch whose will is so absolute that he or she
can compel everyone, from prince to slave, to participate in any work.
Thus the Naya may have caused every male inhabitant of Mo to help in
its construction."
125
When, however, following the dwarfs we had hurried forward to the
steps cut in the black rock I bent to examine them. They were polished
by the wear of ages of feet and hands passing over them, and when I
pointed out this fact to Omar he agreed with me that this place must
have been in existence centuries ago, and had probably been re-dis-
covered within the last two or three years.
The dwarfs, in ascending, put their toes into holes and niches in the
rocks and kept talking all the while. Every now and then they would
stop, sway their heads about and sing a kind of low chant in not un-
musical tones. As we crept up slowly behind, with difficulty finding the
rude steps in the uncertain light, the last of the string of dwarfs kept
turning to us bowing and crooning. I confess I began to be anxious, fear-
ing that we might be going into a trap, but I noticed that my two com-
panions were calm as iron bars. This gave me renewed courage, and we
toiled up until at last we reached the great platform and stood beneath
the left-hand wing of the gigantic vampire of solid rock. The pillars that
had been left in the excavations to support it, were, like the steps, worn
smooth where crowds of human beings had jostled against them. The
manner in which they were sculptured was very remarkable, the faces of
all, both men, beasts, birds and fish, bearing hideous, uncanny expres-
sions, the fearful grimaces of those suffering the most excruciating bodily
tortures. It was here apparent, as everywhere, that the gigantic figure
had not been recently fashioned, but had for many centuries past been
visited by vast crowds of worshippers.
Beneath the outstretched wing under which we stood a large number
of people had assembled. Great blazing braziers here and there illumin-
ated the weird place with a red uncertain glare, which falling on the
faces of the crowd of devotees, showed that they had worked themselves
into a frenzy of religious fervour. Some were crying aloud to the
Crocodile-god, some were prostrate on their faces with their lips to the
stones worn smooth by the tramp of many feet, while many were going
through all sorts of ceremonies and antics.
At the end, where the colossal wing joined the body wherein burned
the great fiery furnace, there stood twelve dwarfs in flowing garments of
pure white. These were high-priests of Zomara. The fierce pigmies, un-
known even to Omar, their prince, seemed a sacred tribe who perhaps
had lived here forgotten and undiscovered for generations. In any case it
was apparent that they never ascended to the land above, but devoted
themselves entirely to the curious rites and ceremonies of this strange
pagan religion.
126
In the centre of the semi-circle of tiny bead-eyed priests with whitened
faces stood one of great age with flowing white beard that nearly swept
the ground. His figure was exceedingly grotesque, yet he bore himself
with hauteur, and as he stood before a kind of altar erected in front of a
door, that seemed to lead into the body of the gigantic crocodile, he gave
vent in a loud clear voice to the most earnest exhortations. Then, bathing
his face and hands in a golden bowl held by the other priests, in order, so
I afterwards learnt, to wash away the bad impressions of the world, he
thus began an instructive lesson:
"Give ear, ye tender branches, unto the words of your parent stock;
bend to the lessons of instruction and imbibe the maxims of age and ex-
perience! As the ant creepeth not to its labour till led by its elders; as the
young lark soareth not to the sun, but under the shadow of its mother's
wing, so neither doth the child of mortality spring forth to action unless
the parent hand points out its destined labour. But no labour shall the
hand of man appoint unto the people of Mo before the worship of Zo-
mara, the sacred god of the crocodiles, and of the great Naya, his hand-
maiden. Mean are the pursuits of the sons of the earth; they stretch out
their sinews like the patient mule, they persevere in their chase after
trifles, as the camel in the desert beyond the Thousand Steps. As the leo-
pard springeth upon his prey, so doth man rejoice over his riches, and
bask in the sun of slothfulness like the lion's cub. On the stream of life
float the bodies of the careless and the intemperate as the carcases of the
dead on the waves of the Lake of Sacrifices. As the birds of prey destroy
the carcase so is man devoured by sin. No man is master over himself,
but the Naya is his ruler; and to endeavour to defeat the purpose of Zo-
mara is madness and folly. O people! pay your vows to the King of Cro-
codiles alone, and not to your fetishes, which, though they be superior in
your sight, are yet the work of his hands. Let virtue be the basis of know-
ledge, and let knowledge be as a slave before her."
The worshippers at the shrine of the dread god raising their right
hands then repeated after the high priest some mystic words that, al-
though having no meaning for me, struck terror into Omar's heart.
"Hearken!" he whispered to me in an awed tone. "Hearken! Our con-
spiracy against the Naya is already known! They are swearing allegiance
to her, and vowing vengeance against any who thwart her will. If we are
detected here as strangers it will mean certain death!"
I glanced around the strange, weird place, and could not suppress a
feeling of despair that we should ever leave it again alive. The faces of
the worshippers, men and women, illuminated by flaming flambeaux
127
and burning braziers, were all fierce and determined-looking, showing
that the worship of the Crocodile-god was conducted in no faint spirit.
Before this gigantic representation of the national deity, they became
seized with a religious mania that transformed them into veritable
demons.
"Lo!" cried the silver-bearded priest. "Think, O people! of all our Great
White Queen hath done for you. She hath brought down the moon's rays
from the realms of night to lighten our darkness, she hath marked the
courses of the stars with her wand and reduced eccentric orbs to the
obedience of a system. She hath caught the swift-flying light and divided
its rays; she hath marshalled the emanations of the sun under their
different-hued banners, given symmetry and order to the glare of day,
explained the dark eternal laws of the Forest-god, and showed herself al-
ways acquainted with the dictates of Zomara."
His hearers, swaying their bodies and performing all sorts of eccentric
antics, cried aloud in confirmation of the benefits bestowed upon Mo by
its queen.
"The secrets, too, of chemistry have been laid open by her," continued
the diminutive priest. "Inert matter is engaged in warlike commotion
and she hath brought fire down from the heavens to entertain her. She
hath placed our land in such a state of defence that no invader can ap-
proach it; she hath brought from over the great black water the amazing
'pom-poms' of the English, which shed a thousand bullets at one charge,
and she hath caused cannon to be cast to project explosive shells beyond
the reach of the eye. She hath taught you at once the beauty of nature
and the folly of man. Truly she is a great queen; therefore let not her son
Omar who hath returned from over the great sea, wrest from her hand
the regal sceptre. Already hath our queen perceived the haughtiness and
the vicious principles of her son, and maketh no doubt but that he will
soon aspire to her throne. This causeth the prudent Mistress of Mo to re-
solve to banish him and take all power from him. Let him be ejected
from our country and the queen's word be obeyed, for no beam of mercy
lurketh in her eye. The Naya is determined."
"The great Naya shall be obeyed," they cried aloud. "Omar, the mali-
cious prince, curbed by the authority of his mother, shall be banished."
"Or his life shall, like those of his followers we hold here as prisoners,
pay the forfeit of presumption," added the high priest.
And as he uttered the words, those surrounding went to the door be-
hind the fire-altar, and opening it, led forth three of our Dagombas amid
the savage howls of the excited spectators.
128
"O, race of mortals," cried the priest, raising his hand the while, "O
race of mortals, to whose care and protection the offspring of clay are
committed, say what hath been the success of your labours; what vices
have you punished; what virtues rewarded; what false lights have you
extinguished; what sacrifices have you made to the god of Crocodiles?
Helpless race of mortals, Zomara is your god and the Naya your queen.
But for their protection how vain would be your toils, how endless your
researches! Arm ye then and rally round the one to whom you owe all,
whose power is such that this our country can never be assaulted by the
tricks of fortune, or the power of man. Omar and his black swarm of in-
truders must be driven out or given as sacrifice to Zomara. Till this be
done the curse of the god ye fear shall rest upon our land, and his pres-
ence shall nightly remind ye of your idleness. Will ye let the defiant
prince overthrow your queen?"
"He shall never do so," they shouted in a tumult of enthusiasm, which,
ere it died away, increased tenfold, when suddenly before us we saw a
female figure in a loose yellow robe move with stately mien towards the
smoking altar and kneel for an instant before it.
Then, rising, she turned towards the people with her long, bare,
scraggy arms uplifted in silence.
In the red flickering light we recognized the evil bony features. It was
the dreaded Naya herself!
"The vengeance of Zomara upon mine enemies," she cried in harsh,
metallic tones. "I will treat each and every one who dareth to oppose me
in the way I will now punish these three savages who have entered our
region forbidden. Watch, and let it be a warning to those who may be
tempted by bribes to entertain disloyal thoughts."
With stately stride she led the way along a dark colonnade from be-
neath the wing of the colossal vampire to the enormous closed mouth of
the hideous crocodile, being followed by the high priest and his attend-
ants, who dragged along the three of our unfortunate companions.
At once a headlong rush was made by the frenzied spectators to obtain
a view of what was to transpire, and we followed leisurely at a respect-
able distance, remaining in the shadow of one of the grotesquely-carved
columns of rock.
When all had taken up their places we could see the expressions of ab-
ject fear upon the glistening faces of the wretched blacks, and longed to
rush forth and rescue them, but with knowledge that instant death
would result from such foolhardiness we remained breathlessly silent,
compelled to watch.
129
Again the high priest, with outstretched hands over the people, cried:
"Give heed unto me! Were Zomara, the god whom we worship, to be
worshipped in perfectness, the whole length of our lives would not suf-
fice to lie prostrate before him. But the merciful Avenger of Wrong ex-
pecteth not more from us than we are able to pay him. True it is that we
should begin early, and late take rest, and daily and hourly offer up our
praises and petitions to the throne of his handmaiden's grace. But better
is a late repentance than none; and the eleventh hour of the day for work
than perpetual idleness unto the end of our time; and this is not to be ob-
tained for us but through our mighty Naya, the daughter of Zomara the
Swallower-up of Evil."
Himself facing the hideous gigantic head with its long jaws and
gleaming eyes, he flung himself suddenly upon his knees and com-
menced a gabbled prayer. All prostrated themselves in adoration, even
to the great Naya herself, whose magnificent jewels flashed and gleamed
with wondrous brilliancy each time she moved.
In order not to appear strange to this extraordinary proceeding, we,
too, cast ourselves upon our knees and remained with heads bent in de-
votional attitude, but allowing no detail of the weird scene to escape us.
Suddenly the priest arose, and with a fire-brand ignited at the brazier
near his hand, he stood before the wonderful figure of Zomara and made
a mystic sign.
Instantly the ponderous jaws with their double row of iron teeth, each
as long and as sharp as swords, slowly opened, and there issued forth a
great roaring mass of flame that licked the upper jaw, a veritable tongue
of fire.
The Naya rose, swaying her long arms wildly, but the people re-
mained still kneeling, silent in awe.
Her voice was heard for a moment above the roaring and crackling of
the furnace in the throat of the colossus, and then, at a sudden signal
from the high priest, our three wretched black companions were seized
by the group of dwarfs, carried up a short flight of steps by white-robed
attendants, and hurled headlong into the flaming mouth of the monster.
A loud scream broke upon our ears, and for a single instant the flames
belched forth with increased fury, but as the last victim of this horrible
rite was consigned to his terrible doom, as sacrifice to the dreaded god,
the cruel jaws closed again with a heavy clang.
The merciless barbarity of the Great White Queen horrified us. The
fearful fate of those who had shared our perils during our adventurous
130
journey to this spectral land of mystery held us dumb in terror and
dismay.
Yet, ere the giant jaws of the hideous monstrosity had snapped togeth-
er, the people, hilarious and excited, sprang to their feet exhorting their
great deity to send his fiercest vengeance upon us, the intruders, that our
sinews might be withered and that we might rot by the road-side like
cattle smitten by the pest.
Then the terrible Naya, wheeling round slowly, gave her people her
blessing, and they, in turn, shouted themselves hoarse in frantic
adulation.
Truly, the scene was the strangest and most weird that my eyes had
ever gazed upon.
131
Chapter 24
THE FLAMING MOUTH.
We stood rooted to the spot. The hideous colossus, the intensely white
light streaming from its gigantic eyes, seemed to tower above us to an
enormous height, its outstretched wings threatening to enclose the great
swaying crowd of fanatical worshippers. With monotonous regularity
the long jaws, worked by hidden levers, fell apart, disclosing the terrible
pointed teeth against a roaring background of smoke and flame, and so
frenzied had the people now become, that each time the mouth of the
monster idol opened, numbers of wild-haired men and women rushed
up the incline that led to the blazing furnace, and with loud cries of ador-
ation of their deity, lifted their arms above their heads and cast them-
selves into the flames. Some fell clear of the double row of pointed teeth
into the furnace, while others not leaping sufficiently far were impaled
upon the great spikes of steel, and in full view of their companions
writhed in frightful agonies, as slowly they were consumed by the
tongue of fire lapping about them.
The scene was awful, yet the Naya, surrounded by priestly dwarfs,
stood regarding it with satisfaction. Such voluntary sacrifices to Zomara,
were, to them, gratifying in the highest degree.
Suddenly the light in the eyes of the giant figure changed from white
to a deep blood-red, illuminating the strange place with a ruddy glow
that increased its weirdness, and was a signal for a large number of sacri-
fices. Indeed, the worshippers now lost their self-control absolutely, and
when the horrible mouth, dripping with blood, again unclosed, there
was such a press of those anxious to immolate themselves, that many
could not struggle forward to cast their bodies into the flames before the
teeth again snapped together.
It was horrible. Nauseated by the sickening sight of men impaled and
absolutely crushed to a pulp by the ascending jaw which must have
weighed many tons, and the sharp teeth of which cut the unfortunate
wretch to pieces, we turned away. We had emerged from the shadow
132
that had concealed us and stood in the full white light shed by one of the
monster's eyes, hesitating how to seek some means of escape, when two
of the dwarfs, suddenly turning a corner, came full upon me. In
an instant I remembered that on account of the suffocating atmosphere I
had unwrapped my haick from about my mouth, thus allowing my fea-
tures to remain uncovered. But ere this thought flashed across my mind
the uncanny-looking imps had detected my features as those of a
stranger.
For a second they paused, starting and glancing keenly at me, then
they turned and gazed earnestly at my companions. There was, I knew,
no mistaking Kona's sable yet good-humoured face.
"Lo!" they cried, shouting to the group of their priestly tribe standing
rigid and silent around the bejewelled Naya. "See! There are strangers
present! One is a black savage like those thou hast given unto Zomara,
and the other white, like the people dwelling beyond the great black
water."
Their announcement produced an effect almost electrical. In an instant
a silence fell, and at the same moment the voice of the Naya was heard
commanding:
"If they are strangers who have dared to descend to this our Temple of
Zomara, bring them forth, and let them be given unto the great god
whose maw still remaineth unsatisfied. Hasten, ye priests, do my bid-
ding quickly; let them not escape, or the curse of the King of the Cro-
codiles be upon you."
The two dwarfs sprang forward to seize us, while the group of priests,
fleet of foot, accompanied by the great mob of worshippers, sped in our
direction. The people, having worked themselves up to such a pitch of
excitement, were eager to assist in the immolation of any intruders. They
were bent upon obeying the law of their queen.
But in an instant Kona felled both the dwarfs with two well-directed
blows with his huge black fist, and without hesitation we all three turned
and fled in the direction we had come. My companions had apparently
forgotten where the steps descended, but fortunately I had fixed the spot
in case any untoward incident occurred. They were over against a great
pillar of rock, rudely fashioned to represent a woman with an eagle's
head.
"This way," I shouted. "Follow me!" and with a bound sped in its direc-
tion as fast as my legs could carry me.
133
We had nearly gained the spot when to my dismay I saw a dozen of
the worshippers, divining our intention, approaching from the opposite
direction in order to cut off our retreat.
It was an exciting moment. Behind, was a mad, fanatical mob of five
hundred men and women led by the dwarfs shrieking vengeance against
us; before us were a dozen determined men ready to seize us and convey
us to a horrible death in the throat of the gigantic representation of their
sacred reptile. Even if we safely descended the steps, we knew not the
secret means by which we might reach the earth's surface, nor did either
of us remember the exact point where the long dark tunnel joined the
wonderful cavern.
None, however, knew that Omar himself was one of my fellow fugit-
ives, for the dwarfs, being consigned to a subterranean life perpetually,
had never set eyes upon him, and therefore he had been unrecognized.
Another moment, and I knew he must be detected by some of the de-
votees. If so, the hostile feeling against us would be intensified, and we
should probably be torn limb from limb.
I had retained the lead in this race for life, and seeing retreat cut off by
the group of men gaining the top of the steps before us I turned quickly,
and, although fearing the worst, made a long detour. Determined to sell
my life dearly, I drew my long knife from its velvet sheath, and gripped
it, ready to strike a deadly blow in self-defence. Luckily I armed myself
in time, for almost next moment a man of huge stature sprang forward
from behind one of the columns of rock where he had been secreted and
threw himself upon me, clutching me by the throat.
Scarce had his sinewy fingers gripped me, when, by dint of frantic ef-
fort, I freed my right arm, and with a movement quick as lightning flash,
I buried my knife full in his breast. One short, despairing cry escaped
him, and as he staggered back I dashed forward again, without turning
to look at the result of the swift blow I had delivered. But I was desper-
ate, and being compelled to defend my life, I do not doubt that my blow
was unerring, and that my blade penetrated his heart.
Hindered thus in my flight my two companions had reached the edge
of the precipice ahead of me, and were skirting it, when suddenly I saw a
body of our pursuers approaching, and cried to them in warning. In dis-
may I noticed they took no heed of my words, but continued their swift
flight right in the direction of those who sought our destruction.
"Take care, Omar!" I shouted, in English. "Can't you see those devils in
front?"
134
But he answered not, and I was about to halt and give up all thought
of escape, when I saw them both suddenly throw themselves on their
knees on the edge of the abyss, and almost instantly disappear over the
precipice.
They had found another flight of steps!
Eagerly I sprang forward, and in a few seconds found myself descend-
ing the rough face of the rock, scrambling desperately down into the
yawning chasm with a wild horde of excited fanatics shrieking and
yelling above.
Half a dozen of the more adventurous swung themselves over and
commenced to follow us, but those above, determined that we should
not escape, fetched huge stones and lumps of rock, which they hurled
upon us. But their excess of zeal only wrought destruction upon their
companions, who, being above us, received blows from the great stones
which sent them flying one after another to the base of the rock, killed or
stunned ere they reached it. Twice we had narrow escapes on account of
the unconscious bodies of our pursuers or their companions' missiles
falling against us, but while all those who had followed us, save one, fell
victims to the merciless frenzy of their companions, we were fortunate
enough to be enabled to descend to the base of the rock, where once
again the impenetrable darkness hid, although at the same time it
hampered, our movements.
For a few moments at least we were safe, and paused to recover
breath. My arm was bleeding profusely where it had been severely
grazed by a sharp edge of rock in our headlong flight, and the white gar-
ments of all three of us were soiled and torn. But our halt was not of long
duration, for suddenly we heard whispers and the sound of stealthy
footsteps in the darkness.
We listened breathlessly.
"Hark!" cried Omar. "Our pursuers are here also, and are looking for
us!"
"Let us hide behind yonder rock," Kona suggested, in a half-whisper.
"No, let us creep forward," answered the son of the Great White
Queen. "They will search every crevice and hiding-place now the hue-
and-cry has been raised," and glancing up I saw a black stream of excited
worshippers, many with torches that in the distance shone like moving
stars, already pouring down over the rock in our direction like a line of
ants descending a wall.
Every moment brought them nearer upon us; every instant increased
our peril. Even though we were in the great chasm, the true extent of
135
which we could not distinguish, we knew not by what means we could
escape upward to the blessed light of day.
Forward we crept cautiously, in obedience to Omar's instructions, but
ere a couple of minutes had elapsed it was evident that the watchful ones
who had heard the shouting from above and noticed the pursuit had dis-
covered our whereabouts, for just as we had noiselessly passed a huge
boulder, a man in white robe and turban sprang upon us from behind.
"Look out, Kona!" cried Omar, his quick eyes discerning the man's
cloak in the darkness ere I noticed his presence.
Next second, however, the head-man of the Dagombas and the
stranger were locked in deadly embrace, notwithstanding that the man
who had approached cried aloud to us for mercy.
Kona with drawn sword had gripped the man's throat with his long
black fingers, when suddenly we heard a gasping cry: "Stay thine hand!
Dost thou not recognize thy benefactor?"
"Hold!" shouted Omar, the words causing him to turn and run back to
where the pair were struggling. "Knowest thou not the voice? Why, it is
Goliba!"
And it was Goliba! Instantly the black giant released the man who he
believed intended to arrest our progress, and with a word of apology we
all four sped forward. How our aged host had escaped after being
thrown from the frame in which we had made the descent from the city
we knew not until later, when he explained that on recovering con-
sciousness and finding himself on his back in the tunnel with a slight in-
jury to his shoulder, he had scrambled down the perilous descent, fear-
ing each moment that he might slip in the impenetrable darkness and be
dashed to pieces ere he gained the bottom. Intensely anxious as to our
fate, he had at last descended in safety, but on emerging from the tunnel
found proceeding above all the commotion the discovery of our presence
had caused. He watched our descent into the chasm and stood below
awaiting us, but we had rushed past ere he could make himself known,
and he had therefore dashed across to a corner and thus come up with
us.
But our meeting, too hurried and full of peril to admit of explanation
at that moment, was at any rate gratifying—for we all three had believed
him dead. Our pursuers were now behind us in full cry. A number of
them had gained the base of the rock and, yelling furiously, were fast
gaining upon us.
"Come, let us hasten," cried the old sage, speeding along with a fleet-
ness of foot equal to our own, skirting the base of the great rock for a
136
short distance until we came to a portion that jutted out over the uneven
ground, then suddenly turning aside, we crossed a great open space
where mud and water splashed beneath our feet at every step. The fur-
ther we went the deeper sank our feet into the quagmire, until our pro-
gress was so far arrested that we could not run, but only wade slowly
through the chill black slime.
Even across here our progress was traced, for the lights in the eyes of
the giant god were turned upon us, and our path lit by a stream of white
light which guided the footsteps of those who sought our death.
At last, when we had crossed the boggy patch, the ground became
quite dry again, but after running some distance further, which showed
me that the natural chamber must have been of huge proportions, Goliba
shouted to us to halt and remain there. We obeyed him, puzzled and
wondering, but we saw him dashing hither and thither as if in search of
something. At first it was apparent that he could not discover what he
sought, but in a few minutes when our pursuers had crossed the quag-
mire and were quite close upon us he shouted to us to come forward. To-
gether we obeyed instantly, speeding as fast as our legs could carry us to
where Goliba was standing before a small fissure in the side of the cav-
ern on a level with the ground, and so narrow that it did not appear as if
Kona would be able to squeeze his big body through.
"Follow me," the old sage said in a low tone as, throwing himself
down before the mysterious hole, he crept forward, being compelled to
lie almost flat on his stomach, so small was the fissure.
His example we all quietly followed, finding ourselves groping for-
ward in the darkness, but discovering to our satisfaction that the further
we proceeded the wider the crack in the rock became, so that before long
we were enabled to walk upright, although we deemed it best to hold
our hands above our heads lest we should strike them against any pro-
jecting stones.
Without light, and in air that was decidedly close and oppressive, we
proceeded. At least we were safe from the howling mob, for since leav-
ing the great cavern all was silence, and it was now evident from the
confident manner in which Goliba went forward that he was assured of
the way. Soon we negotiated a steep ascent, now and then so difficult
that we were compelled to clamber up on all fours, and for a long time
this continued until our hands and feet were sore with scrambling up-
ward. A spring shed its icy drippings upon us for some little distance,
soaking us to the skin and rendering us chilly and uncomfortable, but at
137
length we reached what seemed to be a ponderous door that barred our
passage.
Goliba groped about for a few minutes without speaking, when
quickly it opened to his touch and we found ourselves in a long stone
passage lit here and there by evil-smelling oil lamps that flickered in the
rush of air from the great fissure through which we had ascended.
"This is amazing," cried Omar dumbfounded, as the old sage struggled
to close the heavy iron door behind us. "Why, we are in the vaults be-
neath the palace!"
"True, O Master," Goliba answered, breathless after his exertions.
"There is but one entrance and one exit to this labyrinth of vaults and
foul chambers wherein the Naya confineth her prisoners. The entrance is,
as thou knowest, immediately beneath the Emerald Throne; the exit is
this door, which can only be opened by those possessed of the secret.
Thirty years ago, when Keeper of the Prison, this door puzzled me con-
siderably, for all attempts to open it on the part of the men I employed
failed. It is of such construction and mechanism that nothing short of ex-
plosives could make it yield, and these I feared to use. But years after-
wards a gaoler who had obtained the secret from his father, also a gaoler,
but who was dead, imparted it to me on his death-bed in return for some
good-will I had shown him. I believe therefore that I am the only person
who has knowledge of the means by which to open it."
"The knowledge hath, in any case, saved our lives, Goliba," Omar
answered. "But the great cavern and all those horrible rites introduced
into the worship of Zomara, are not they new?"
"No," replied the sage. "They are as old as the foundation of the King-
dom of Mo. Strangely enough, however, the great cave with its colossus
and its race of sacred dwarfs who live away in a small dark forest that
can only be gained from the opposite side of the cave, were for centuries
forgotten. The way to the Temple of Zomara was unknown and the
dwarfs remained in undisputed possession of the place until three years
ago, one more adventurous than the rest, succeeded in ascending to Mo,
when his capture resulted in the cavern with its great wonderful image
being re-discovered. Since that time the place has never been devoid of
votaries, and the great fire has constantly been fed by those anxious to
immolate themselves to appease the Crocodile-god."
"Ah! he is a great god," Omar observed earnestly.
"Yea, O Master, he is indeed all-powerful," answered the aged council-
lor. "He giveth us life, preserveth us from death, and shieldeth us from
evil."
138
And as they uttered these words both fingered their amulets piously.
139
Chapter 25
LIOLA.
After brief consultation it was deemed insecure for us to return to
Goliba's house, as search would undoubtedly be made for us there if any
had detected his presence with us in the great chasm. Therefore, our
guide, taking one of the lamps, led us along a number of narrow un-
lighted passages, threading the maze with perfect knowledge of its in-
tricacies until, opening a door, we found ourselves in a small stone
prison-chamber. Here we remained while he went to another part of the
vaults and obtained for us some food, urging us to remain there until
such time as we might come forth in safety.
Kona extracted from him a promise that he would place his fellow-
tribesmen in a place of security, and Goliba also assured us that if we re-
mained in that chamber and did not attempt to wander in the passages,
where we must inevitably lose our way, we might ere long ascend to the
city and commence the campaign against the cruel command of the mer-
ciless Naya.
Through eleven long and dreary days we remained in the narrow cell,
drawing our water from a spring that gushed forth from a rock close to
the door, existing on the smallest quantity of food, and scarce daring to
speak aloud lest any of the gaolers should overhear. By day a faint light
came through a narrow chink above, and from the fact that the steady
tramp of soldiers sounded overhead at intervals we concluded that the
chamber must be situated immediately below one of the courtyards of
the palace. At night, however, we remained in perfect darkness, our oil
having been exhausted during the first few hours. Thus we could only
remain sitting on the stone bench like prisoners, inactive, discussing the
probabilities of the serious movement that had been started in favour of
a change of rule.
"The people apparently look to me as their rescuer from this oppres-
sion," Omar observed one day when we were laying plans for the future.
"I will, if Zomara favours me, do my best."
140
"It is but right; nay, it is your duty towards your subjects to preserve
the traditions of the Sanoms," I said. "Goliba was right when he prom-
ised he would show us the horrors introduced into Mo, or resuscitated
by the present Naya. We have witnessed with our own eyes expressions
of pleasure cross her countenance as each batch of her subjects cast them-
selves into those yawning jaws. Such a monarch, capable of any cruelty,
must necessarily rule unjustly, and should be overthrown or killed."
"I do not desire her death," he said quickly. "All I intend to do is to free
our people from this hateful reign of terror, and at the same time pre-
serve my mother's life."
"But the time she gave us to quit the country has elapsed," I observed.
"If we are now discovered we shall either be held as slaves, or treated
without mercy—offered as sacrifices to the Crocodile-god, perhaps."
"Not while the people are in our favour," he said. "Once their adher-
ence to my cause has been tested then we have nought further to fear, for
the opinion of the populace will be found even of greater power than the
military, and in the end it must prevail."
"In the fight that must ensue thou wilt find thy servant Kona at thy
side," the head-man said. "Through fire or across water the Dagombas
will follow thee, for their fetish is good, and they have faith in thee as
leader."
"Yea, O friend," the young prince answered. "Without thee and thy fol-
lowers I could never have returned hither. I owe everything to thee, and
to the stout heart of our companion Scarsmere."
"No, old fellow," I protested. "It is your own dogged courage that has
pulled us through so far, not mine. Up to the present all has gone well
with us except the deplorable loss of some of our dark companions,
therefore let us retain our light hearts and meet all obstacles with smiles."
"I am ready to lead the people against the forces of malice and oppres-
sion at any moment Goliba commands," Omar answered. "No thought of
fear shall arrest my footsteps or stay my hand."
Times without number we discussed the situation in similar strain, un-
til, on the eleventh day of our voluntary confinement we were startled
by a low tapping on the door.
Each held his breath. Had it been Goliba he would have entered
without any such formality. In silence, we remained listening.
Again the tapping was repeated, louder than before. Drawing our
knives ready to defend ourselves, believing it to be one of the Naya's
gaolers, Kona went forward, unbolted the door and opening it a few
inches, weapon in hand, peered out.
141
Instantly an exclamation of surprise escaped him, and as he threw
wide open the door, a young girl of about seventeen, with a face more
beautiful than I had ever before seen, entered our cell. This vision of fem-
inine loveliness entranced us. We all three stood staring at her open-
mouthed.
Dressed in a robe of rich blue silk heavily embroidered with gold, her
waist was confined by a golden girdle wherein were set some magnifi-
cent rubies, and her feet were encased in tiny slippers of pale green
leather embroidered with seed pearls. Her face, slightly flushed in confu-
sion at finding herself in the presence of the Prince, was pale of complex-
ion as my own, her clear eyes a deep blue, her cheeks dimpled, her chin
just sufficiently pointed to give a touch of piquancy to a decidedly hand-
some countenance. Her hair, of almost flaxen fairness, fell in profusion
about her shoulders and breast, almost hiding the necklets of gold and
gems encircling her slim throat.
Little wonder then was it that Kona's black visage should broaden into
a wide grin in manner habitual when his eyes fell upon anything that
pleased him, or that I should regard her as a most perfect type of femin-
ine loveliness.
"I seek Omar, the Prince," she said in a silvery voice, not, however,
without some trepidation.
"I am Omar," answered my friend. "Who, pray, art thou, that thou
shouldst know of my hiding-place?"
"Thy servant," she said with a graceful bow, "is called Liola, daughter
of Goliba, councillor of the great Naya. My father sendeth thee greeting
and a message."
"Goliba's daughter!" Omar cried laughing. "And we had drawn knives
upon thee!"
"Sheathe them," she answered smiling upon us. "Keep them in your
belts until ye meet your enemies, for ere long ye will, of a verity, want
them."
"What then hath transpired?" asked the son of the Great White Queen.
"What message sendeth our friend Goliba?"
"My father directed me to come hither, for knowing the wife of the
Keeper of the Prison I was enabled to pass the sentries where my father
would have been remarked," she said. "He sendeth thee word to be of
good courage, for all goeth well, and thy cause prospereth. The savages
who accompanied thee into our land are all in safety, although the horse-
men of the Naya are scouring the country in search of thee and thy com-
panions. In secret, word of thy consent to lead the popular
142
demonstration against oppression and ill-government hath been con-
veyed to the people even to our land's furthermost limits, and the reports
from all sides show that thou art regarded with favour."
"And thou art also one of my partisans—eh?" asked Omar, smiling.
"I am, O Master," she answered blushing deeply. "I will make fetish for
the success of thine arms."
"I thank thee, Liola," he answered. "Thou hast indeed brought us good
tidings."
"But my father sendeth thee a further message," she continued. "He
told me to tell thee that at sundown to-day he will come and conduct
thee hence. Rest and sleep until then, for the way may be long and great
vigilance may be demanded."
"Whither does he intend to take us?" our companion asked.
"I know not, O Master," she replied. "Already the people have armed,
and are assembling. I heard my father, in conversation last night with
one of the provincial governors who hath lately joined us, declare that
the struggle could not be much longer delayed."
"Then thou meanest that a fight is imminent?" he asked.
"I fear so. Word of thine intention hath been conveyed by some spy
unto the Naya, and the city now swarmeth with her soldiers and janis-
saries, who have orders to suppress the first sign of any insurrection. But
in the fight thou shalt assuredly win, for the opinion of the people is in
thy favour. May Zomara's jaws close upon thine enemies, and may they
be devoured like sacrifices."
"The people are assembling, thou hast said," Omar observed. "Are they
in great numbers?"
"It is impossible to tell. The news of thine opposition to the Naya
spread like wildfire through the land, and secret agents soon ascertained
that the balance of opinion was in thy favour. For eight days past I have
been at work secretly in thy cause, and from my own observations in the
city I know that among the palace officials we have many adherents, and
even here and there the soldiers will turn against their own comrades. In
our own house arms and ammunition are stored, and we have been for-
tunate enough in obtaining from the arsenal through the governor, who
is on our side, ten of those wonderful guns of the English that fire bullets
like streams of water."
"Maxims, I suppose," I interrupted.
"I know not their name," she replied. "I heard my father say that they
are most deadly, and with them we might hold an army at bay."
143
"Truly thy father hath neglected nothing on my behalf," Omar said
with sincerity. "Dost thou return unto him?"
"I go at once."
"Then tell him we are anxious to accompany him, and will be ready at
sundown."
"Thy words will I convey to him, O Master. Liola shall make great fet-
ish for thine ascent to the Emerald Throne."
Then, wishing us adieu, the slim handsome girl with the deep blue ex-
pressive eyes slipped out of the door, and noiselessly crept away down
the long stone corridor.
"Of a truth, O Master, there can be no fairer daughter on earth than Li-
ola," Kona observed, addressing Omar when the pretty messenger had
gone.
"Yea, she is beautiful. Her face is like the lily, and her eyes as mysteri-
ous as the depths of the sea. I have never encountered one so fair," Omar
answered.
"Nor I," I said. "Her beauty is incomparable."
"I had no idea old Goliba had a daughter," Omar exclaimed. "He is in-
deed fortunate to have one so amazingly lovely."
"She is one of your partisans," I observed smiling.
And he laughed, while Kona, grinning with glee, declared chaffingly
that the Prince had fallen in love with her.
The subject, however, was not further pursued, but now and then
Omar would express a hope that she had returned in safety to her father,
or wonder why she had been working in his cause, his words showing
plainly that his head was still filled with thoughts of our pretty visitor.
Soon after the light had faded from the tiny chink above, Goliba's
voice was heard calling outside, and we at once opened the door to him.
"Let us hasten, O Master," the old sage cried breathlessly. "Every
instant's delay meaneth peril, and peril is first cousin to disaster."
"Lead," I cried. "We will follow."
A moment later we all four were creeping softly along the corridor
past doors of the foul reeking dungeons wherein those who for some
cause or another, often the most trivial, had fallen into disfavour with the
Naya and were rotting in their silent living tombs. Many were the grim
and fearful stories of injustice and agony those black walls could tell;
many were the victims consigned there, although innocent of any of-
fence, never again to see the light of day. As we walked huge grey rats,
some the pets of the wretched prisoners, scurried from our path, and
144
now and then as we passed the small closed door of heavy sheet-iron the
groans and lamentations of the unhappy captives reached our ears.
At last, after traversing many passages turning to right and left in such
a manner that the extent of the great place amazed us, we ascended a
flight of well-worn steps.
"The sentries now on guard are loyal to us," the royal councillor
whispered, turning to Omar as we went up, and when we emerged into
the chamber wherein stood the Emerald Throne, the three tall soldiers
with drawn swords, two standing mute and motionless as statues on
either side of the door, and the other pacing up and down, took no notice
of our appearance, but regarded us with stolid indifference. In the rosy
evening light we sped across the beautiful court to a gate opposite, and
passed out by a private way of which Goliba held the key until we found
ourselves beyond the frowning walls.
Kona looked around longingly as we passed through the courts and
chambers. He was anticipating with eagerness the time when he and his
men would re-enter the place as conquerors, and was probably reflecting
upon the amount of loot his men could obtain in the event of an order
being given to sack the palace of the dreaded Naya. But without pausing
to glance behind, our guide hurried us forward along a number of wind-
ing back streets of the city, hot, dusty and close-smelling after the broil-
ing day, until he stopped before the door of a fine house, the walls of
which were of polished white marble, that reflected the last rays of the
sun like burnished gold. Striking the door thrice, it opened, and on going
in he conducted us to a spacious hall, where we found exposed to our
view a great collection of arms and warlike accoutrements. All kinds of
instruments of death, which the inventive malice of man had ever dis-
covered had been collected for the use of those determined to accomplish
the overthrow of the wicked rule of the Naya. First, there were sticks,
staves and knotty clubs. Next to these, spears, darts, javelins, armed with
brass or iron, or their points hardened with fire, and innumerable bows
with quivers and arrows, which Kona examined critically, giving low
grunts of approbation as he scrutinized a specimen of each.
After these, instruments of dubious use originally designed for the as-
sistance of man, but perverted through cruelty and malice to the service
of slaughter and death; such as knives, scythes, axes and hammers. On
these were heaped arms, deliberately fashioned for the offence of man-
kind, swords, daggers, poignards, scimitars, and rapiers, while on the
opposite side of the spacious place were stored the more refined and de-
structive instruments of European war, rifles, muskets, revolvers,
145
bayonets, small field-pieces, machine-guns of various patterns, including
four Maxims and their food, boxes of cartridges, kegs of powder, cakes
of dynamite, bombs and shells.
"Behold!" exclaimed Goliba, halting before them. "Here is one of our
secret stores of arms."
"One of them!" said Omar. "How many, then, have we?"
"In the city there are sixteen, all similarly filled. Away in various parts
of the country there are depôts in every populous centre," he replied.
"But it must have taken a long time to obtain all these," the Prince ob-
served, puzzled.
"The munitions of war were swiftly obtained for a popular rising," the
aged sage replied. "When the word went forth in secret to the people,
they responded almost to a man. Arms were actually carried from the
royal arsenal in great quantities, and even the spies of the Naya found
themselves thwarted and powerless. We have obtained nearly all the
Maxims purchased in England, by the Naya's agent, Makhana; some are
here, others at various depôts, and each will be in charge of fighting-
men, who know their use. The few remaining in the arsenal and forts
have all been disabled by those of our sympathisers in government
employ."
"Truly," I said, turning to Omar, "the Naya who gave an order for your
assassination is seated on the edge of a volcano."
"Yes," cried the white-bearded old councillor. "The country hath
struggled and groaned long and in vain under the Naya's tyrannical
sway; the uprising will be swift and revengeful."
"When will it occur?" I asked, with eagerness.
"To-night," answered Goliba in a quiet tone.
"To-night?" we all three cried, amazed that the preparations were
already complete.
"Yes," he said, in a low tone. "As the bell on the palace-gate chimeth
the midnight hour a great mine will be fired that will proclaim with the
earth's sudden upheaval the rising of the people of Mo against their
ruler. Then the people, ready armed with these weapons, will strike such
a blow as will sweep away all oppression and tyranny from our land,
and leave it free as it hath ever been, free to prosper and retain its posi-
tion as the only unconquered nation on the face of earth."
146
Chapter 26
THE FIRST BLOW.
Leaving the store of arms we returned to Goliba's house; not by the high
road, but by little winding lanes with tunnel-like passages under the
overhanging eaves of houses; through a small open square or two, past a
few richly-painted and carved doors of tombs, and so on once more to
the residence of the old sage, with its spacious courts and beautiful gar-
dens. We passed some handsome blue-tiled public fountains, and some
fine buildings several storeys in height, open in the centre with a patio,
and surrounded by galleries of carved wood, which seemed to answer to
our corn exchanges. One, near Goliba's house, was especially remarkable
for its architectural beauty, not only with regard to its interior, but also
its magnificent gateway. There were others also of far less pretensions,
which answered more to the caravanseri of Samory's country, where the
weary animals who had borne their burdens from some far away corner
of the mystic land were resting during their sojourn in the city.
When, in the cool dusk of evening we had eaten in the marble court,
with its fountains and flowering plants, Omar being waited upon per-
sonally by our host, Liola came, and, lounging gracefully against one of
the marble columns, gossipped with us. Afterwards, a professional
story-teller was introduced to amuse us during the anxious time that
must elapse before the fateful hour when the signal for the great uprising
would be given.
He was an old man, small of stature, in fact, I believe he must have
been one of the tribe of dwarf cave-dwellers. Of darker complexion than
the majority of this curious people, he was dressed in a long garment of
white, wearing on his head a conical head-dress, shaped somewhat like a
dunce's cap, and as he took up his position, squatting on a mat before us,
he made deep obeisance to the son of his ruler. While we regaled
ourselves with grapes and other luscious fruits as a satisfactory conclu-
sion to a bountiful feast, he told us a story which, as far as I could trans-
late it, was as follows:
147
"Ages ago," he said, "in the days of the good king Lobenba and Prince
Karmos"—here he kissed his hand as a sign of reverence, as did all his
listeners—"there was a poor man, a cowherd, who lived a very righteous
life, nor did he commit any sin. But he was terribly poor, starving be-
cause he had not the wherewithal to supply himself with food. One night
while asleep in his lonely hut on the mountain over against the Grave of
Enemies, a vision appeared to him, and he saw standing before him the
god Zomara"—more hand-kissing—"in a flame of fire. And the King of
Crocodiles said to him: 'Gogo, I have seen thy poverty and am come to
give thee succour. I have seen how, even in the days when no food hath
passed thy lips, thou hast never committed theft, nor borrowed not to re-
turn, and now thou shalt have great wealth. Speed early to-morrow to
thy friend Djerad and borrow his black horse. I will put it in his mind to
lend it thee; and take this horse and ride it to the Gate of Mo, and then
leap on thy horse from the precipice, and assuredly thou wilt find great
wealth.'
"Ere Gogo had time to thank the great god—whose name be exalted
above all others—he had vanished. Early he rose, donned his ragged gar-
ments, set forth and begged the loan of the black horse of Djerad, his
friend. After a ride of many hours, he came at sundown to the Gate of
Mo, and gazed over the fearful precipice. Gathering the reins in his hand
he rode back a little distance, then gallopped full speed to the brink. But
his heart failed him, and on the edge he reined his horse for fear.
"Nine times he essayed to go, but each time his courage was insuffi-
cient. While he was sitting on his horse, preparing for the tenth time to
obey the instructions, he heard a great noise behind him, and turning,
saw the god Zomara with fire bursting from his mouth and streams of
light in his eyes, crawling towards him.
"'Weak man,' he cried, as he passed. 'Thou fearest to obey. Follow me.'
"An instant later the great crocodile had crawled over the edge of the
precipice, and a moment afterwards Gogo had followed his example. It
seemed as if he were in the air an hour, but suddenly his horse's hoofs
touched earth again; the animal never fell into the terrible abyss, but
merely tore up a piece of the turf where he had stood. He looked around;
Zomara had disappeared, but in the hole that the horse's hoof
had caused he saw a large ring of iron. Dismounting, he tried to raise it,
but only after two hours' work he succeeded in moving it and excavating
from its hiding-place an enormous chest filled with gold pieces and
costly jewels, and so he lived in affluence the remainder of his life, till
148
Zomara took him to be one of his councillors. So are the righteous
rewarded."
Then some thick-lipped musicians struck up music on quaintly-
shaped stringed instruments, and the strange old man, bearing a kind of
tambourine in his hand, came round to collect coins, the collection being
repeated at the conclusion of each legend.
In one of his stories mention was made in the most matter-of-fact man-
ner of a sick person being buried alive. This caused me to address some
questions to Liola, who, seated near me, told me that this terrible custom
was one recently introduced by the Naya.
"The ghastly practice is supposed to appease Zomara and give us vic-
tory over our enemies," she said. "As soon as any serious illness setteth
in, the patient is taken from his house wrapped in his best robes, depos-
ited in a grave and then covered with earth. No one in Mo now dieth a
natural death. When the body hath been placed in the grave, the friends
of the dead man set forth to kill the first living creature they can en-
counter, man, woman or beast, believing that through their victim their
friend hath been compelled to die. When thus in search of an expiatory
victim, they take the precaution of breaking off young shoots of the
shrubs as they pass by, leaving the broken ends hanging in the direction
they are going as a warning to people to shun that path. Even should one
of their own relatives be the first to meet the avengers they dare not suf-
fer him to escape."
"Life is not very secure in Mo when sickness rageth," I observed.
"No," she replied, sighing. "It is merely one of the many horrible prac-
tices the Naya hath introduced into our land. Whether a man is buried
alive, or whether he dieth in the fight, his kinsmen at once assemble and
destroy all his goods, saving only his vessels of gold which are confis-
cated for the Naya's use. The curse of Zomara would fall heavily upon
anyone who attempteth to make use of any article once owned by a dead
person. After the destruction of the property hath taken place the house
is filled with the fumes of burning resin. The guests then sit in the per-
fumed atmosphere drinking large draughts of fiery liquids and give vent
to their feelings in violent shouts."
"A strange custom, indeed," I said, astonished. "And it is only of recent
introduction?"
"When, three years ago the ancient Temple of Zomara was discovered
beneath the earth and all in Mo descended to witness its wonders, the
Naya gave orders for the custom, as I have described, to be rigorously
149
observed," she answered, turning her clear, trusting eyes upon Omar as
she spoke.
Soon afterwards she left us in order to give some orders to the slaves,
and the story-teller and musicians also departing, Goliba brought in
three of the provincial governors who had visited us on the last occasion
we had been the aged sage's guests, and together we discussed and criti-
cised for the last time the arrangements made for the revolt. After an
hour's consultation these men again departed, and Goliba himself having
brought us our arms, consisting of an English-made magazine-rifle each,
some ammunition, and a short but very keen sword manufactured in
Mo, left to make a tour of his house to personally inspect the measures
taken for its defence.
The next hour was so full of breathless excitement that we dared only
converse in whispers. The atmosphere was hot and oppressive, the sky
had grown dark and overcast, threatening ominously, while ever and
anon could be heard the faint clank of arms; men, tall, dark and mysteri-
ous, passed and repassed along the dark colonnades, or stood in knots
leaning on their rifles discussing the situation in undertones.
On returning to us our host told us that the store of arms we had seen,
as well as others in various neighbourhoods, had all been distributed,
and that the whole city was awaiting the signal.
"Roughly speaking, thou hast in the capital alone thirty thousand ad-
herents," the councillor said to Omar. "Thou hast therefore nothing to
fear. The path to victory is straight, and little danger lurketh there."
Almost ere these words had fallen from his lips, loud shouting soun-
ded at the door that gave entrance to the patio wherein we stood, and we
were startled to notice a scuffle taking place between a number of those
who were about to guard the house and some would-be intruders. Yet
ere we could realise the true state of affairs, we saw dozens of the royal
soldiers scrambling down from the walls on every side, rifles flashed
here and there, and within a few moments the place was in possession of
the troops of the Naya.
"We seek Omar, the prince, and his companions," cried a man in a
shining golden breastplate, evidently an officer of high rank, striding up
to Goliba. "We hold orders from the Naya to capture them, and take
them to the palace. We know thou hast harboured them."
Before our host could reply twenty of the fighting-men of Mo, having
recognized us, dashed across, and notwithstanding our resistance, had
seized us. Goliba, too, was quickly made prisoner, and above the
150
shouting and hoarse imprecations we heard in the darkness a loud pier-
cing woman's scream.
Liola had also fallen into their hands!
We fought our captors with all the strength of which we were capable,
but were unarmed, for on receiving the rifles and swords from Goliba
we had placed them together at a little distance away in a corner of the
court. It took fully a dozen stalwart soldiers to hold the black giant Kona,
and even then it was as much as they could do to prevent him from
severely mauling them. His grip was like a vice; his fist hard as iron.
In the hands of three of these white robed soldiers, who had on our ar-
rival in Mo cheered and belauded us, I struggled fiercely, but to no avail,
for they dragged us all onward across the patio and out into the street,
now crowded by those attracted by the unusual disturbance in the house
of the Naya's councillor. The huge grim gateway of the royal palace
stood facing the end of the long, broad thoroughfare, and from where we
stood we had an uninterrupted view of it. Our arrest was indeed a dis-
aster when we seemed within an ace of success. The people regarded us
indifferently as we were hurried up the hill towards the great stone arch
with its massive watch-towers, and it appeared as though the swift de-
cisive step of securing the ringleaders of the revolt had entirely crushed
it, for the people, instead of showing defiance, shrank back from the sol-
diers, cowed and submissive.
Suddenly, as we went forward, the great bell in one of the high turrets
of the Naya's stronghold boomed forth the first stroke of the midnight
hour.
Then, in an instant, a bright red flash blinded us, followed by a report
so deafening, that the very rock whereon the city was built trembled, and
we saw amid the dense smoke before us the great black gateway, with its
watch towers where the sentries were pacing, break away, and shoot in
huge masses high towards the sky.
The explosion was terrific; its effect appalling. The glare lit the whole
city for a brief second with a light like a stormy sunset, then upon us
showered great pieces of iron and stone with mangled human limbs,
the débris of a gateway that for centuries had been considered absolutely
impregnable.
The first blow against tyranny and oppression had been struck, ter-
rible and decisive. It was the people's call to arms. Would they respond?
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Chapter 27
BY THE NAYA'S ORDERS.
A short time only did we remain in doubt as to the intention of the popu-
lace. The suppressed excitement found vent even before the clouds of
choking smoke had rolled away. The signal had been given, and in-
stantly they responded with fierce yells, throwing themselves suddenly
upon the soldiers, using weapons that seemed to have been produced
like magic.
Those who had effected our capture, dumbfounded, first by the ap-
palling explosion, and then by the hostile attitude of the people, released
us instantly, being compelled to fight for their lives back towards the
smoking ruins of the palace-gate.
Within a few moments the great broad thoroughfare, with its hand-
some houses, became the scene of a most fierce and sanguinary conflict.
Rifles flashed everywhere, in the street, from the windows and roofs of
surrounding buildings, pouring a fire upon the soldiers so deadly that
few succeeded in escaping back to the place whence they came. With
startling suddenness I found myself in the midst of this stirring scene,
fighting for life beside Omar. Both of us had snatched rifles and am-
munition from fallen soldiers, while someone in the crowd had given me
a fine sword with bejewelled hilt, which I hastily buckled on in case of
emergency. Behind us a great barricade was being built of the first things
that came to hand. The houses were being divested of their furniture by
a hundred busy hands, and this, piled high, with spaces here and there
for the guns, soon presented a barrier formidable, almost insurmount-
able. The erection of barricades was, we afterwards found, part of the
scheme, for in all the principal thoroughfares similar piles were construc-
ted, each being manned by a sturdy body of men, well-armed and de-
termined to hold in check and repulse the attack which they knew
would, ere long, be made upon them by the military.
The forces of Mo, feared on every hand for their daring and brilliant
feats were, we knew, not to be trifled with, and as word had been
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secretly conveyed to Omar that the Naya, on hearing of the intention of
the people, had ordered her soldiers to institute an indiscriminate mas-
sacre, we should have to fight hard to save our lives.
The barricade was soon completed, and quickly word spread from
mouth to mouth to get behind it. This we all did, to the number of about
three thousand; then came a period of waiting. It was not our object to
renew the attack, but to await reprisals. Apparently, however, the blow-
ing up of the palace-gate had utterly disconcerted the royal troops whose
barracks were in that vicinity, and we could see by the crowd of moving
torches that the soldiers were engaged in repairing the huge breach
made in the walls before marching forth to quell the insurrection.
In the darkness we waited patiently. A few desultory shots, fired by
some of our more adventurous partisans, who, climbing to the top of the
barricade, aimed where they saw the torches moving, broke the ominous
silence, but in distant parts of the city we could hear the rapid firing of
musketry, with now and then a loud thundering roar when a heavy
field-piece was discharged.
Each moment seemed an hour as we remained inactive behind that
improvised barrier of doors, shutters, furniture, iron gates and railings.
Omar and I were standing together beside one of the three Maxim guns
by which our position was defended, watching the preparations being
made on the top of the hill for assaulting us, when suddenly there was a
bright flash, and next instant a great shell fell behind us, bursting and
dealing death and destruction among our ranks. The air became rent by
the shrill cries of the wounded and the hoarse agonized exclamations of
the dying, for this first shot from the palace had been terribly effective,
and fully fifty of those anxious to bear their part in the struggle for
liberty had been killed, while many others were wounded. The shell had
unfortunately fallen right in the centre of the crowd.
Again another was discharged, but it whistled over our heads and ex-
ploded far away behind us, shattering several houses, but injuring
nobody. A third and a fourth were sent at us, but neither were so effect-
ive as the first. The breach in the wall where the gate had once been had
now been repaired, and the adherents of the Great White Queen were at
last taking the offensive.
Both Omar and myself had earlier that day, during our visit to the
store of arms, been instructed in the use of that terror of modern warfare,
the Maxim gun, and the one against which we stood with two men had
been allotted to us.
153
My companion, who had been watching with the deadly weapon
ready sighted to sweep the street, turned to ask news of Liola, whom we
had not seen since we were dragged from her father's house, and I had
taken his place, my hand ready to fire. Of Liola's fate I feared the worst.
She had been taken prisoner, and had probably been killed or injured in
the fierce mêlée.
Suddenly with wild yells, several hundred of the Naya's horsemen
dashed down the hill, their swords whirling, followed by a huge force of
men mounted and dismounted. I saw that at last they had come forth for
the attack, and without a second's hesitation bent and commenced a fire,
the terrible rattling of which held me appalled. The guns on either side
followed mine in chorus, and almost momentarily we were pouring out
such a hail of bullets, that amid the smoke and fire the great body of
horses and troops were mowed down like grass before the scythe. The
foremost in the cavalry ranks had no time to lift their carbines to reply,
ere they were swept into eternity, and those coming behind, although
making a desperate stand, fell riddled by bullets from our three terrible
engines of destruction.
The fight with Samory's fugitives on the Way of the Thousand Steps
had been exciting enough, but in extent or bloodshed was not to be com-
pared with this. In that single onward rush of the Naya's troops hun-
dreds were killed, for, ceasing our fire for a moment or two while the
smoke cleared, we saw, lying in the street, great piles of men and horses,
who had fallen upon one another in their forward dash and died under
our frightful hail of lead.
A short pause, and the rifles and all the chorus of surrounding artillery
took up their thunder-song with increased energy. These works of man
outrivalled the natural elements by their tremendous booming and their
disastrous power. Shells from the palace walls fell upon us thick and
fast. No lightning's flash can accomplish such ruin as the modern ord-
nance projectile. A few centuries back the thought would have been in-
comprehensible; even so the visionary and ridiculed idea of to-day may
be realised in the future. The shots descended, a veritable storm of lead,
and several times the clouds of choking dust they set up enveloped us;
but we were undaunted, and continued to work the Maxim, spreading
its death-dealing rain up the broad thoroughfare and preventing any
from reaching our barricade.
The idea of the troops was no doubt to gradually force us back from
the external positions of the city into the central, and from the centre to
the east in the direction of the gate that gave access to the country. By
154
this means the fighting area would be compressed, and we should be
surrounded by a large body of our enemies who had massed outside the
gate to cut off our retreat. But the thundering boom of cannon and sharp
rattle of musketry on our right, showed that our comrades, barricaded in
a great thoroughfare running parallel with the one wherein we were,
had also set to work to repel their enemy.
Barricades had sprung up in all directions like magic. The four corners
of intersecting streets were the positions mostly chosen for them, and
every conceivable article was used in their construction. Women and
children vied with the men in activity and resourcefulness in the erection
of these improvised works of defence, and the work slackened not even
when shells and bullets fell about in dangerous proximity.
Our companions, the partisans of Omar to whom they looked to deliv-
er their country from the thraldom of tyranny, were fortunately not
devoid of those soldier-like qualities which in past ages had raised the
military renown of Mo to the greatest altitude; what they lacked mostly
outside of themselves were capable officering and generalship. There
were a few officers of the royal army among them, men who had become
convinced that a change of government was necessary, but the people
were left to do battle mainly on the principle of individual enterprise.
Time after time attacks, each increasing in strength and proving more
disastrous to us than the first, were made upon us. But our Maxims kept
up their rattle, and from every part of the great wall of paving stones,
furniture, trees and heaped-up miscellaneous articles, there poured out
volley after volley from bristling rifles.
The troops quickly found the street absolutely untenable, for each time
they made a rush to storm our position they were compelled to fall back,
and few indeed reached a place of safety amid our deadly fire. When we
had held the barricade for nearly an hour, Kona, Omar and myself being
close together bearing our part in repulsing our opponents, a loud roar
suddenly sounded before us and at the same instant a huge shell, imbed-
ding itself in our defences, exploded with a bright light and deafening
report.
The havoc caused was appalling. Half our barricade was blown com-
pletely away, and besides killing and maiming dozens of our comrades,
it shattered several houses close by, and its force sent me down flat upon
my back. Instantly I struggled to my feet, and finding myself uninjured
save for a severe laceration of the hand, glanced round seeking my two
friends. But they were not there!
155
The shell had set part of the barricade on fire, and already the flames
were rising high, lighting up the terrible, lurid scene. Again I bent to my
Maxim and recommenced firing, but as I did so another shell, only too
well directed, struck the opposite end of our defences, and instantly a
disaster resulted similar to the first, while a house at the same moment
fell with a terrible crash, burying several unfortunate fellows beneath
its débris.
Instantly I saw that our defences were partially demolished, and as
shell after shell fell in rapid succession in our vicinity and exploded, our
gallant defenders, still determined to prove victors, rushed up the hill to
try conclusions with the Naya's troops. It was a wild, mad dash, and I
found myself carried forward in the onrush of several thousand excited
men. Meeting the remnant of the cavalry we fought with savage ferocity,
alternately being beaten and beating. I had lost Omar, Kona and Goliba,
half fearing that they had been blown to atoms by the shell, nevertheless
the courage of my comrades never failed, although gaining the top of the
hill and defeating the cavalry by sheer force of numbers, they were driv-
en back again at the point of the bayonet, while from the ruins of the
palace-gate a steady rifle fire was poured upon us at the same time.
Half-way down the hill we made a gallant stand, but again were com-
pelled to fall back in disorder. Soon we were driven from the main thor-
oughfare into the minor streets, refuging in and fighting from the
houses, whilst our foe steadily and angrily pursued and closed in upon
us, dislodging us from our shelters and leaving few loop-holes for
escape.
The carnage was awful; quarter was refused. It seemed as though our
hope was a forlorn one; the general and ruthless massacre ordered by the
Great White Queen had actually begun!
The loss of our barricade paralysed us. Yet we could hear the roar and
tumult, and seeing the reflection of fires in other parts of the city, only
hoped that our comrades there were holding their own valiantly as we
had struggled to do. Ever and anon loud explosions sounded above the
thunder of artillery, and it became apparent that the royal troops were
engaged in blowing up any defences they could not take by assault.
From where I had sought shelter behind a high wall with a lattice win-
dow through which I continually discharged my rifle into the roadway, I
saw massacres within walls and without. The troops had poured down
upon us in absolutely overwhelming numbers, and no resistance by our
weakened force could now save us. One fact alone reassured me and
gave me courage. In the bright red glare shed by the flames from a
156
burning building, among a party who made a sally from the opposite
house I caught a momentary glance of the lithe, active figure of Omar,
fighting desperately against a body of the Naya's infantry and leading on
his comrades with loud shouts of encouragement.
"Do your duty, men!" he gasped. "Let not your enemies crush you!"
But the mêlée was awful. Once again our partisans were driven back,
and the street was strewn with bodies in frightful array, left where they
fell, uncovered, unattended.
The thick black cloud of smoke which hung over the City in the
Clouds and on either side of it obscured the rising dawn and intensified
the horrors of the awful drama. Fires raged in every direction, making
the air hot; it was close through the smoke cloud above and the absence
of wind, fœtid with the odour of human blood that lay in pools in every
street and splashed upon the houses. The sight was majestic, terrible,
never-to-be-forgotten; in the midst of it the terror and stupefaction were
almost beyond human endurance. On all sides were heard the roar of
flames, the breaking of timbers and the crashing in of roofs and walls.
Fire and sword reigned throughout the magnificent capital of Mo; its
people were being swept into eternity with a relentless brutality that was
absolutely fiendish.
Into the hearts of the survivors of the gallant force who had so readily
constructed our barricade and so valiantly defended it, despair had
entered. There was now no hope for the success of our cause. The forces
of tyranny, oppression and misrule were fast proving the victors, and in
that fearful indiscriminate shooting down of men, women and children
that was proceeding, all knew that sooner or later they must fall victims.
I had seen nothing of Kona or Goliba since the wrecking of our barri-
cade, but Omar, I was gratified to observe, was stationed at a window of
the opposite house from which he directed well-aimed shots at those be-
low. A body of fully five hundred infantry were besieging the house
wherein a large number of our comrades had taken shelter, determined
to put them to the sword; yet so desperate was the resistance that they
found it impossible to enter, and many were killed in their futile endeav-
ours. At length I noticed that while the main body covered the move-
ments of several of their companions the latter were preparing a mine by
which to blow it up. With the half-dozen men beside me we kept up a
galling fire upon them, but all in vain. The mine was laid; only a spark
was required to blow the place into the air.
157
Knowing that if such a catastrophe were accomplished we, too, must
suffer being in such close proximity to it, we waited breathlessly, unable
to escape from the vicinity of the deadly spot.
Suddenly, as one man, more fearless than the others, bent to fire the
mine, the soldiers, with one accord, rushed back, and scarce daring to
breathe I waited, fearing each second to see the house and its garrison
shattered to fragments and myself receive the full force of the explosive.
But at that instant, even as I watched, a loud exultant shout broke
upon my ear, and looking I saw approaching from the opposite end of
the street a great crowd of people rushing forward, firing rapidly as they
came.
They were our comrades. Their shouts were shouts of victory!
"Kill them!" they cried. "Let not one escape. They have killed our
brothers; let us have revenge! The Naya shall die, and Omar shall be our
Naba!"
The man bending over the explosive sprang back in fear without hav-
ing applied the fatal spark, and his companions, taken thus completely
by surprise, stood amazed at this sudden appearance of so large a body
of the populace. But the rifles of the latter in a few seconds had laid low
several of their number, and then, making a stand, they lowered their
weapons. A loud word of command sounded, and as if from one
weapon a volley was fired full upon the victorious people. For a few mo-
ments its deadly effect checked their progress, but an instant later they
resumed their onward rush, and ere a second volley could be fired they
had flung themselves upon their opponents, killing them with bayonet,
sword and pistol.
Their rush was in too great a force to be withstood. As in other parts of
the city, so here, they compelled the troops to fly before them, and shot
them down as they sped back up the hill towards the great stronghold.
In those few fateful minutes the tables had suddenly been turned.
While we, fighting hard in that hot corner, had imagined that we had
lost, our comrades in other parts of the city had won a magnificent vic-
tory, and had come to our rescue at the eleventh hour.
Truly it was everywhere a fierce and bloody fight.
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Chapter 28
THE FIGHT FOR THE EMERALD THRONE.
Thrown into utter confusion by the great press of people well armed and
determined, the soldiers, who had fought so desperately, and who inten-
ded to blow up the house that Omar and his companions had made their
stronghold, fled precipitately up the hill, but so rapid and heavy was the
firing, that few, if any, got out of the street alive.
On seeing the chances thus suddenly turned in our favour we poured
forth into the street again, and joining our forces with those of our res-
cuers, rushed with them into the main thoroughfare leading to the
palace, scrambling over the débris of our barricade and the heaps of bod-
ies that blocked our passage. A hurried question, addressed to a man
rushing along at my side, elicited glad tidings. So fiercely had the people
fought that the troops sent out to quell the rising had been utterly routed
everywhere, while many of the regiments had turned in our favour and
had actually held several of the barricades, winning brilliant victories.
"It is yonder, at the palace, where the resistance will be greatest," the
man cried excitedly, blood streaming from a ghastly wound on his brow.
"But our cause is good. The Naya shall die!"
"To the Palace!" screamed the infuriated mob. "To the Palace!"
And forward the frantic dash was made at redoubled pace until we
came to the pile of fallen masonry, which had, a few hours ago, been the
great impregnable gateway that closed each day at sunset, and opened
not till sunrise, save for the Great White Queen herself.
Here the place seemed undefended until we came close up to it, when
without warning we were met with a withering rifle fire that laid low
dozens of our comrades. The man who had been so enthusiastic a mo-
ment before and who had told me of our successes, was struck full in the
breast by a ball and fell against me dead.
For a moment only did we hold back. Dawn was spreading now, but
the heavy black smoke obscured the struggling daylight. Suddenly there
sounded just at my rear Omar's well-known voice, crying:
159
"Forward! Forward, my brethren. I, Omar, your prince, lead you into
the palace of my father. To-day there commenceth a new and brighter
era for our beloved land. Falter not, but end the struggle valiantly as ye
have commenced it. Forward!"
His words sent a sudden patriotic thrill through the great concourse of
armed men, who instantly sprang forward, and regardless of the blazing
lines of rifles before them climbed the ruins and engaged the defenders
hand to hand. It was a brilliant dash and could only have been accom-
plished by the courage inspired by Omar's words, for the odds were
once more against us, and the rapid fire from behind the ruins played
the most frightful havoc in our ranks. In the midst of the crowd I
clambered up, sword in hand, over the huge masses of masonry and rub-
bish, and springing to earth on the other side, alighted in a corner where
the picked guards of the Naya were making a last desperate stand.
At first the struggle had been a hand-to-hand one, but they had re-
treated, and were now firing heavy volleys that effectively kept us at
bay.
Almost at the same moment as I sprang down I heard behind me
fiendish yells and the clambering of many feet. In an instant I recognised
it as the savage war cry of the Dagombas, and next second a hundred
half-naked blacks, looking veritable fiends in the red glare, swept down
headlong to the spot where I stood and, headed by Kona brandishing his
spear, dashed straight upon the defenders. The effect of this was to cause
the others to spring forward as reinforcements, and quicker than the
time occupied in relating it, this position, an exceedingly strong one, fell
into our hands. So infuriated were the Dagombas by the excesses com-
mitted by the soldiery in various parts of the city, that they vented their
savage wrath upon the defenders until the butchery became awful, and I
doubt whether a single man escaped.
The soldiers holding the next court, seeing this disaster, placed, ere we
could prevent them, two field-pieces behind the closed gate wherein
holes had been hacked, and with the walls crowded with men with rifles
they began to pour upon us a deadly hail of shot and shell. Once, for a
moment only, Niaro, the provincial governor I had met at Goliba's,
fought beside me, but after exchanging a few breathless words we be-
came again separated. Little time elapsed ere one and all understood that
to remain long under this galling fire of the palace guards would mean
death to us, therefore it required no further incentive than an appeal
from Omar to cause us to storm the entrance to the court.
160
"Well done, friends," he shouted. "We have broken down the first de-
fence. Come, let us sweep away the remainder, but spare the life of the
Naya. Remember I am her son. Again, forward! Zomara giveth strength
to your hands and courage to your hearts. Use them for the purpose he
hath bestowed them upon you."
In the forward movement in response to these loudly-uttered words
fearful cries of rage and despair mingled with hoarse shouts of the van-
quished. Rifles flashed everywhere in the faint morning light, bullets
kept up a singing chorus above our heads, and about me, in the frightful
tumult, gleamed naked blood-stained blades. At first the guards, like
those in the outer court, made a desperate resistance, but soon they
showed signs of weakness, and I could distinguish in the faint grey
dawn how gradually we were driving them back, slowly gaining the en-
trance to the court, which, I remembered, was a very large and beautiful
one with cool colonnades, handsome fountains and beautiful flowering
trees of a kind I had never seen in England.
At last, after a fierce struggle, in which the defenders very nearly suc-
ceeded in driving us out or slaughtering us where we stood, the field-
pieces were silenced, a charge of explosive was successfully placed be-
neath the gate and a loud roar followed that shook every stone in that co-
lossal pile.
The ponderous door was shattered and the defenders disorganised by
the suddenness of the disaster. Almost before they were aware of it we
had poured in among them. Then the slaughter was renewed, and the
scenes witnessed on every hand frightful to behold.
Kona and his black followers fought like demons, spearing the soldiers
right and left, always in the van of the fray. Omar and Kona were appar-
ently sharing the direction of the attack, for sometimes I heard the voice
of one raised, giving orders, and sometimes the other. But, however ir-
regular the mode of proceeding might have been from a military stand-
point, success was ours, for half an hour later the two inner courts,
strenuously defended by the Naya's body guard, were taken, and
judging from the fact that the firing outside had become desultory it
seemed as though hostilities in the streets had practically ceased.
At this juncture some man, a tall, powerful fellow who was distin-
guishing himself by his valiant deeds, told me that the military down in
the city, finding the populace so strong, had, after a most terrific fight, at
last ceased all opposition and declared in favour of the Prince Omar.
This, we afterwards discovered, was the actual truth. The carnage in the
streets had, however, been appalling, before this step had been resolved
161
upon, but when once the declaration had been made, the remnants of the
Naya's army were, at the orders of the leaders of the people, marched
without the city wall on the opposite side to the great cliff, and there hal-
ted to await the progress of events.
Meanwhile, we were still hewing our way, inch by inch, towards the
centre of the palace of the Great White Queen. So desperate was the con-
flict that the perspiration rolled from us in great beads, and many of my
comrades fell from sheer exhaustion, and were trampled to death be-
neath the feet of the wildly-excited throng.
Soon, driving back the final ring of defenders, and shooting them
down to the last man, we dashed across the central court, where the pol-
ished marble paving ran with blood, and battering down the great gilded
doors, that fell with a loud crash, gained our goal, entering the spacious
Hall of Audience, in the centre of which, upon its raised daïs, under the
great gilded dome, stood the historic Emerald Throne.
The magnificent hall was deserted. The bloodshed had been frightful.
The courts were heaped with dead and dying. Several chairs were lying
overturned, as if the courtiers and slaves had left hastily, and even across
the seat of royalty one of the Naya's rich bejewelled robes of state had
been hastily flung down. This, snatched up by one of the Dagombas, was
tossed away into the crowd, who gleefully tore it to shreds as sign that
the power of the dreaded Naya was for ever broken.
To the exultant shouts of a thousand wild, blood-bespattered people,
the great hall echoed again and again. The faint light showed too plainly
at what terrible cost the victory had been won. Their clothes were torn,
their faces were blackened by powder, from their superficial wounds
blood was oozing, while the more serious consequences of sword-cuts
and gun-shots had been hastily bound by shreds of garments. Flushed
by their victory, they were a strange, forbidding-looking rabble. Yet they
were our partisans; a peaceful, law-abiding people who had been op-
pressed by a tyrannical rule and long ripe for revolt, they had seized this
opportunity to break the power of the cruel-hearted woman who was
unworthy to hold sway upon that historic throne.
"Let us seek the Naya! She shall not escape! Let us avenge the deaths
of our fathers and children!" were the cries raised when they found the
Hall of Audience deserted. Apparently they had expected to find the
Great White Queen seated there, awaiting them, and their chagrin was
intense at finding her already a fugitive.
"She dare not face us!" they screamed. "All tyrants are cowards. Kill
her! Let us kill her!"
162
But Goliba, whom I was gratified to see present and unharmed, sprang
upon the daïs, and waving his arms, cried:
"Rather let us first place our valiant young prince upon the Emerald
Throne. Let him be appointed our ruler; then let us seek to place the
Naya in captivity."
"No," they cried excitedly. "Kill her!"
"Give her alive to Zomara!" suggested one man near me, grimly. "Let
her taste the punishment to which she has consigned so many hundreds
of our relatives and friends."
Heedless of these shouts, Goliba, stretching forth his hand, led Omar,
whose torn clothes and perspiring face told how hard he had fought, to-
wards the wonderful throne of green gems, and seating him thereon,
cried:
"I, Goliba, on behalf of these, the people of our great kingdom, en-
throne thee and invest thee with the supreme power in place of thy
mother, the Naya."
Loud deafening cheers, long repeated, rose from the assembled multi-
tude, and the soldiers dying in the courts outside knew that the revolt of
the people had been successful; that right had won in this struggle
against might. Then, when the cries of adulation became fainter, and
with difficulty silence was restored, Omar rose, and raising his sword,
upon which blood was still wet, exclaimed in a loud, ringing voice:
"I, Omar, the last descendant of the royal house of Sanom, hereby pro-
claim myself Naba of Mo."
Again cheers rang through the vaulted hall, and presently, when the
excitement had once more died down, he added, gazing round with a
regal air:
"About me here I see those who have borne arms in my cause, and to
each and every one I render thanks. How much we may all of us deplore
the loss of so many valuable lives death is nevertheless the inevitable res-
ult of any recourse to arms. At least, we have the satisfaction of knowing
that our cause was a just one, and by the sacred memory of our ancestors
I swear that my rule shall be devoid of that cruelty and tyranny that have
disgraced the later pages of my beloved country's history. I, Omar, am
your ruler; ye are my people. Obey the laws we promulgate and the
good counsels of our advisers, and security both of life and property
shall be yours. From this moment human sacrifices to our great god Zo-
mara—to whom all praise be given for this victory of our arms—are ab-
olished. But our first and foremost word from this, our seat of royalty, is
that the life of the Naya shall be spared. Your Naba hath spoken."
163
A visible look of disappointment overspread the countenances of those
around me. All had, in their wild enthusiasm, desired to wreak their
vengeance upon the unjust queen, but this royal decree forbade it. There
even went forth murmurs of disapproval, and Omar, hearing them, said
in a loud, serious voice:
"A Sanom hath never allowed his kinsman to be murdered, therefore
although the Naya hath plotted to take my life, she shall be held captive,
and not die. Let not a hair of her head be touched, or he who lifteth his
hand against her shall be brought before me, and I will not spare him.
Enough blood hath been already shed since the going down of the sun;
let not another life be wasted."
Then calling Goliba, Kona, Niaro, and myself up to his side upon the
royal daïs, he continued:
"These, my friends, who have assisted me to gain this, my kingdom,
are deserving of reward, and this shall at once be given them. Goliba,
whom all know as a sage and upright man——"
Cheers, long and ringing, here interrupted his words. When quiet had
been restored he continued:
"Goliba shall retain his position as chief of our royal councillors, and
shall be also Grand Vizier of Mo. Niaro, a trusty governor to whom all
who have appealed have met with justice, is appointed Custodian of the
Gate of Mo, in place of Babila, for whom we all mourn. To Kona, head
man of the Dagombas of the forest, I owe my life, and he shall be chief of
our army and of our body-guard, and his native followers shall them-
selves be the principal members of the guard. And Scarsmere," he said,
turning towards me,"Scarsmere hath been my friend and companion
across the great black water; he knoweth not fear, for together we have
been held by Samory and Prempeh, and have yet managed to preserve
our lives. Since I, your Naba, left Mo by the Way of the Thousand Steps,
and entered the land of the white men, Scarsmere hath been my friend
and companion, therefore all shall treat him with due respect, for al-
though he cometh from the wonderful land afar he shall be Governor of
this our city and Keeper of our Treasure-house. He is the trusted and
faithful friend of your Naba, and all shall regard him as highest in
favour."
"We greet thee, Goliba!" enthusiastically cried the surging crowd. "We
greet thee, Niaro, Custodian of the Gate! We greet thee, Kona, a savage
but great chieftain! Thou art head of our army! We greet thee, Scarsmere,
the friend of our royal Naba, and Governor of Mo! We, the people, ac-
cept you, and have confidence in your rule. Ye are all great, and are
164
worthy of the offices to which ye have been raised. May your names be
exalted above all others, and your faces be as beacons unto us!"
And they shouted themselves hoarse in cheering, seeing in the en-
thronement of the young Naba the dawn of a just and beneficent rule.
Their adulations became louder, and even more profuse, when Omar
proceeded to appoint others, well known and popular, to various offices
connected with the palace.
"Happy," cried the white-bearded sages who had taken their places be-
hind the throne—"happy is the prince whose trust is in Zomara and
whose wisdom cometh from the King of the River."
"Happy," cried the people, humbling themselves—"happy is our Naba,
the favourite of the Crocodile-god, the one from whose wrath all flee."
"That," replied Omar, "O people, is too much even for the Naba of Mo
to hear. But may Zomara approve of my thoughts and actions! So shall
the infernal powers destroy the wretches that employ them, and the ar-
rows recoil upon those who draw a bow upon us. But, O sages, though
your numbers are reduced your integrity is more tried and approved;
therefore let Omar, your Naba, partake of the sweetness of your counsels
and learn from aged experience the wisdom of the sons of earth. Ye shall
tell me from time to time what the peace and sincerity of my throne re-
quireth from me, for human prudence alone is far too weak to fight
against the wiles of the deceitful."
I stood beside the royal seat, deep in thought, silently gazing upon the
thousand upturned, grimy faces. It had indeed been a curious turn of
events that had conspired to place my friend upon the throne of an auto-
crat, and also to give, into my own unaccustomed hands, the rule and
control of this most magnificent and extensive capital, and all the won-
drous treasures of the royal house of the Sanoms.
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Chapter 29
A MYSTERY.
From the glittering Hall of Audience a forward movement was soon
made to the inner rooms that formed the private apartments of the Naya.
Carried onward by the press of people, I was amazed at the magnifi-
cence and luxury everywhere apparent. The walls were mostly of pol-
ished marble inlaid with gold and adorned with frescoes, the ceilings or-
namented with strange allegorical paintings, and the floors of jasper and
alabaster. But as the irate crowd dashed onward through the great ten-
antless chambers they tore down the rich silk hangings and trod them
underfoot, broke up the tiny gold-inlaid tables, and out of sheer wanton-
ness hacked the soft divans with their swords.
The discovery that the Naya had fled increased the indignation of the
mob, and were it not for the urgent appeal of Kona, who had at once as-
sumed the commandership, the whole of the magnificent rooms would
no doubt have been wrecked. As it was, however, the good counsels of
the Dagomba head-man prevailed, and wanton hands were stayed from
committing more serious excesses.
Whither the Great White Queen had fled no one knew. To every nook
and corner search parties penetrated; even the sleeping apartment, with
its massive bed of ivory and hangings of purple, gold-embroidered satin,
was not held sacred. Yet nowhere could the once-dreaded ruler be dis-
covered. Some cried that she had escaped into the city in the guise of a
slave, others that she had descended into the cavern where stood the gi-
gantic Temple of Zomara.
Another fact puzzled us greatly. From our elevated position we could
see afar off a fierce conflict proceeding near the city gate on that side
where access could be gained only by the steep flight of steps. Once,
when I had looked, I saw that the city was comparatively quiet; now,
however, this conflict had broken out again suddenly, and judging from
the smoke and tumult it must have been terrific. All were surprised, and
stood watching the clouds of grey smoke roll up into the bright morning
166
air. But soon it died away, and believing it to be an outbreak by the
conquered troops subdued with a firm hand by the victorious people, we
thought no more of it.
The hours that succeeded were full of stirring incidents, and it was
long before the least semblance of order could be restored in the city.
With Kona I went forth into the crowded, turbulent streets, and the sight
that met our gaze was awful. Bodies of soldiers and civilians were lying
everywhere, the faces of some, to whom death had come swiftly, so calm
and composed that they looked as if they slept, while upon the blood-
smeared countenances of others, hideously mutilated perhaps, were ter-
rible expressions, showing in what frightful agony they had passed into
eternity. The road-ways were strewn with heaps of corpses; the gutters
flowed with blood.
At such terrible cost had the tyrannical reign of the Naya been termin-
ated; by such a frightful loss of human life had Omar been raised to the
Emerald Throne.
Greater part of that eventful day was spent by Niaro, Kona, Goliba
and myself in restoring order, while the people themselves, assisted by
the troops, who had already sworn allegiance to their young Naba,
cleared the streets and removed, as far as possible, all traces of the
deadly feud. But to us there came no tidings of the Naya, although the
strictest watch was kept everywhere to prevent her escaping.
The people were determined that if she might not pay the penalty of
her evil deeds by death, she should at least be held captive in one of the
foul dungeons beneath the palace, where so many of their relatives had
rotted and died in agony or starvation.
A blazing noontide was succeeded by a calm and peaceful evening.
Through many hours I had endeavoured, as far as lay in my power, to
assume the command given me, and assisted by a number of quaintly-
garbed officials enthusiastic in Omar's cause, I found my office by no
means difficult. Order again reigning in the streets and the bodies re-
moved, the city had quietly settled down, though of course not to its
usual peacefulness. Crowds of the more excited ones still surged up and
down the broad thoroughfares, calling down vengeance upon the once
powerful queen, but all voices were united in cheers for the Naba Omar,
their chosen ruler.
Save for those required to preserve order, the survivors of the troops
were back in barracks long before sunset, and the palace-guard had been
reorganised under Kona's personal supervision. The Dagombas alone
comprised Omar's body-guard, and I found on my return to the palace
167
that they had exchanged their scanty clothes of native bark-cloth for the
rich bright-coloured silk uniforms of those who had acted in a similar ca-
pacity to the Naya. With their black happy shining faces they looked a
magnificent set of men, though for the first few hours they appeared a
trifle awkward in gay attire that was entirely strange to them. It was
amusing, too, to watch how each stalked by, erect and proud, like a pea-
cock spreading its brilliant plumage to the sun.
That night, when the bright moon rose, lighting up the great silent
court, until yesterday occupied by the terrible queen and her cor-
ruptentourage, Omar and I sat together discussing the events of those
fateful hours since midnight. We had eaten from the gold dishes in
which the Naya's food had been served; we had quenched our thirst
from the jewel-encrusted goblets that she was wont to raise to her thin
blue lips. By Omar's side I thus tasted, for the first time, the pleasures of
royalty.
My old chum had sent away his attendants, the host of slaves with the
twelve Dagombas who acted as the body-guard on duty, and we sat
alone together in the moonlight, the quiet broken only by the distant roll
of a drum somewhere down in the city, and the cool plashing of the
beautiful fountain as it fell softly into its crystal basin. Kona, Goliba and
Niaro were all away at their duties, and now for the first time for many
hours, we had a few minutes to talk together.
"Do you know, Scars," Omar said, moving uneasily upon the royal di-
van that had been carried out into the court at his orders, while, tired
out, I reclined upon another close to him—"do you know there is but one
thing I regret, now that I have succeeded to the throne that was my
birthright?"
"Regret!" I exclaimed. "What regret can you have? Surely you were en-
tirely right in acting as you did? The people were anxious for a just and
upright ruler, and having regard to the fact that your mother plotted
your assassination in so cold-blooded a manner, her overthrow is justly
deserved."
"Yes, yes, I know," he answered, rather impatiently. "But it is not
that—not that. One thing remains to complete my happiness, but
alas!"——and he sighed heavily without finishing his sentence.
"Why speak so despondently?" I inquired, surprised. "As Naba of Mo
all things are possible."
"Alas! not everything," he said, with an air of melancholy.
"Well, tell me," I urged. "Why are you so downcast?"
168
"I—I have lost Liola," he answered hoarsely. "Truth to tell, Scarsmere, I
loved Goliba's daughter."
"She is absolutely beautiful," I admitted. "No man can deny that she is
handsome enough to share your royal throne."
"Indeed she was," he said with emotion, his chin upon his breast.
"Was!" I cried. "Why do you speak thus?"
"Because she is dead!" he answered huskily. "Ah! Scars, you don't
know how fondly I loved her ever since the first moment we met. I loved
her better than life; better than all this honour and pomp to which I have
succeeded. Yet she has been taken from me, and my life in future will be
devoid of that happiness I had contemplated. True I am Naba of Mo,
successor to the stool whereon a line of unconquered monarchs have sat
throughout a thousand years, yet all is an empty pleasure now that my
well-beloved is lost to me."
"Have you obtained definite news of her death?" I asked
sympathetically.
"Yes. When we were captured in Goliba's house, she, too, was seized
by the soldiers. While held powerless I saw her struggling with her
captors, for they had somehow obtained knowledge of the part she had
played in our conspiracy against their queen. The Naya had, it appears,
ordered her guards to bring us all before her, dead or alive. With valiant
courage she resented the indignity of arrest, and as a consequence she
was brutally killed by those who held her prisoner."
"How have you ascertained this?" I asked, shocked at the news, for I
myself had admired Liola's extraordinary beauty.
"To-day I have had before me the three survivors of the guards who
captured us, and all relate the same story. They say that a young girl,
taken prisoner with us, while being dragged up the roadway towards
the palace was in danger of being released by the people, and one of
their comrades, remembering the Naya's orders that none of us were to
escape, in the mêlée raised his sword and plunged it into her heart."
"The brute!" I cried. "Is the murderer among the survivors?"
"No. All three agree that the mob, witnessing his action, set upon him
and literally tore him limb from limb."
"A fate he certainly deserved," I said. "But has her body been
recovered?"
"A body has been found and I have seen it. But the limbs are crushed,
and her face is, alas! trampled out of all recognition, although the dress
answers exactly to one that Goliba says his daughter possessed, and in
which I myself saw her. There is, alas! no doubt of her fate. She has been
169
brutally murdered, and at the instigation of the Naya, who sent forth her
fiendish horde to kill us."
"I knew from the manner you exchanged glances with Liola that you
loved her," I said, after a pause, brief and painful.
"Yes," he answered sadly. "Surreptitiously I had breathed into her ear
words of affection, and had been transported to a veritable paradise of
delight by the discovery that she reciprocated my love. But," he added,
harshly, "my brief happy love-dream is now ended. I must live and work
only for my people; they must be to me both sweetheart and wife. I must
act as my ancestors have done, indulging them and loving them."
Never before, even in the moments when as fellow-adventurers things
looked blackest, had I seen him in so utterly dejected an attitude. The
light had died from his face, and he had suddenly become burdened by a
monarch's responsibilities; prematurely aged by a bitter sorrow that had
sapped all youthful gaiety from his buoyant heart.
With heartfelt sympathy I endeavoured to console him, but all was un-
availing. That he had loved her madly was only too apparent, and it
seemed equally certain that she was dead, for shortly afterwards Goliba
entered, and in a voice full of emotion told us how he had been able to
identify the body, and that his tardy attendance upon his royal master
was due to the fact that he had been superintending her burial.
The old sage's words visibly increased Omar's burden of sorrow, for in
the moonlight I saw a tear trickle down his pale cheek, glistening for an
instant brighter than the jewels upon his robe. Liola had fallen victim to
the inhuman brutality of the Naya's guards, and Mo had thus been de-
prived of a bewitchingly handsome queen.
The dénouement of this stirring story of a throne was indeed a tragic
one; Goliba had lost his only daughter, the pride of his heart, and Omar
the woman he loved.
The silence that followed was broken by a hasty footstep, and the tall
dark figure of Kona approached.
"A strange fact hath transpired, O Master!" he cried breathlessly, ad-
dressing Omar.
"Speak, tell me," the young Naba exclaimed, starting up. "Is it of Liola
that thou bearest news?"
"Alas! no. That she was murdered in the first moments of the conflict is
only too certain," he answered. "The news I bring thee is amazing. While
we were engaged in the struggle for thy throne, thine enemies, the
people of Samory, entered the city and fought side by side with the
military!"
170
"Samory's people here!" we all three cried, starting up.
"They were, but they have departed no one knows whither. Their
numbers were not great, but they sacked and burned several large build-
ings near the city-gate and fought desperately to join their allies the
troops of Mo, but were at last prevented and driven back by the people
in a fierce bloody conflict that actually occurred after thou wert
enthroned."
Then I remembered having noticed the smoke of the encounter, and
how with others, I had been puzzled.
"But how could they enter our country, and unseen approach the
city?" Omar exclaimed astounded.
"I know not the intricacies of the approaches to Mo save the perilous
Way of the Thousand Steps," Kona replied. "The force may have been the
rear-guard of the army that attacked Mo, and were defeated in the great
chasm known as the Grave of Enemies. If they approached by that
means they must have followed closely in our footsteps, and through the
treachery of spies, been admitted to the city at a time when the alertness
of the guards was diverted by the popular rising."
"Were their losses great in the fight?" Goliba asked.
"Terrible. Whole streets and market-places in the vicinity of the en-
trance to the city were found strewn with their dead," the black giant
answered. "Apparently the people discovered the identity of their en-
emies and took no prisoners. With the exception of about two hundred
survivors all were killed."
"And the survivors have escaped!" Omar observed thoughtfully.
"Yes. Owing to the lax watch kept at the gate during those momentous
hours, they were enabled to descend the steps to the plain and get clear
away."
"They must nevertheless be still in Mo. They must be found," Omar
cried excitedly. "While they are among us our country will be in jeop-
ardy, for they will act as spies. Samory hath set his mind upon conquer-
ing this our land; his plot must be frustrated."
"Already have I given orders for a search from the land's most north-
erly limits even to the Grave of Enemies, O Master," Kona answered. "All
the men who could be spared from guarding the city I have dispatched
on expeditions with orders to attack and destroy the fugitives."
"They cannot have travelled far," the young ruler said. "They have
only about twelve hours' start of your men."
"To a man our troops are now loyal to thee," the newly-created chief of
the army answered. "They are alive to the fact that Samory's fighting-
171
men are their bitterest foes, therefore if the survivors of that intrep-
id force are within our boundaries, they will assuredly be overtaken and
killed."
"I would rather that they were captured and held as hostages," Omar
said. "Enough blood hath been already shed to-day."
"The order to capture them is not sufficient incentive to thine army to
rout them from their hiding-place," Kona replied. "They have had the au-
dacity to make a dash upon thy city and burn some of its most renowned
and beautiful structures, therefore in their opinion if not in thine, death
alone would expiate their offence."
"I would wish their lives to be spared," Omar repeated. "But the army
is under thy control, and I leave the final annihilation of the band of free-
booters unto thee. Hast thou obtained any tidings of the Naya's flight?"
"None. My Dagombas have searched every nook and corner of this thy
palace, each prison dungeon hath been entered by detachments of sol-
diers, while enthusiastic parties have descended to the subterranean
Temple of Zomara, but found only the dwarf priests there. The Naya
hath disappeared as completely as if Zomara had crushed her between
his jaws."
"Her disappearance is amazing," Omar observed. "Even her personal
attendants whom I have questioned are ignorant of the direction she
hath taken. They declare that she escaped within ten minutes of the
blowing up of the palace-gate. The catastrophe alarmed her, and she saw
in the fall of these defences the instability of her throne."
"All is being done that can be done to secure her arrest," Kona said. "It
is absolutely necessary that we should hold her captive, or, like the de-
posed queen of the Nupé, she may stir up strife and form a plot to reas-
cend the stool."
"To thee, Kona, I look to guard me from mine enemies," my friend ex-
claimed. "We must elucidate the mystery of the sudden descent of this
weak force of Samory's, the rapidity with which they struck their blow,
and the means by which they have, within twelve hours, so completely
eluded us."
"News of them hath been flashed even unto the furthermost limits of
thy kingdom, O Great Chief," Kona assured him. "No effort shall be
spared by thy servant in executing thy commands. I go forth again, and
sleep shall not close my eyes until the men of Samory have been
overtaken."
With these words he made deep obeisance to the newly-enthroned
sovereign, and lifting his long native spear, which he still retained, he
172
swore vengeance most terrible upon the enemies of Mo, who had, with
such consummate strategic skill, entered and attacked the city at the mo-
ment when it remained undefended.
"There is some deep mystery underlying this, Scars," Omar said, when
Kona had stalked away into the darkness, and Goliba had risen and
crossed the moon-lit court in response to a message delivered by a black
slave. "I am scarcely surprised at Kona's failure to capture the Naya; in-
deed, personally, I should only be too happy to know that she had got
safely beyond the limits of Mo. But the sudden attack and rapid disap-
pearance of this marauding band of Samory proves two things; first that
our country, long thought impregnable, may be invaded, and secondly
that through Kouaga Samory is in possession of certain of our secrets."
"What secrets?" I asked.
"Secrets upon the preservation of which the welfare and safety of my
country depend," he answered mysteriously. Then, with a sudden air of
dejection, he added: "But there, what matters after all, now that Liola is
dead and my life is desolate? At the very moment when the greatest hon-
our has been bestowed upon me and I am enthroned Naba, the saviour
of my people, the greatest sorrow has also fallen upon me."
After a moment's silence he started up in sudden desperation, crying:
"Slave have I been to evil all the days of my life! I have toiled and earned
nothing; I have sown in care and reaped not in merriment; I have
poisoned the comfort of others, but no blessing hath fallen into my own
lap. Blasted are the paths whereon I trod; my past actions are ravenous
vultures gnawing on my vitals, and the sharpened claws of malicious
spirits await my arrival among the regions of the accursed."
"Yes," I observed with a sigh, for the remembrance of that bright, beau-
tiful face was to me likewise one of ineffable sadness. "Yes," I said, "Fate
has indeed been unkind. What she has bestowed with one hand, she has
taken away with the other."
Then we were silent. Above the cool plashing music of the fountain
could be heard the distant roar of voices in great rejoicing, while upon
the starlit sky was still reflected a red ominous glare from the fires raging
in the city that no effort of man could subdue. At the gate leading out-
ward to the next court stood two sentries with drawn swords gleaming
in the moonbeams, mute and motionless like statues, while echoing
along the colonnade was the measured tramp of the soldier as he paced
before the entrance of the gilded Hall of Audience, the scene of so many
stirring dramas in the nation's history. From the divan whereon I sat I
could see the great Emerald Throne glittering green under a brilliant
173
light, with its golden image of the sacred crocodile and its banner bear-
ing the hideous vampire-bat, while around it were still grouped the offi-
cials of the household, the body-guard of faithful Dagombas, the slaves
ready with their great fans, and Gankoma, the executioner, with his
bright double-edged doka, all standing in patience, awaiting the coming
of their royal master.
The Court of Mo was, I reflected, a strange admixture of European
civilization and culture with African superstition and barbarity. On the
one hand the buildings were of marble or stone, magnificent in their pro-
portions, with decorations in the highest style of Moorish art, the arms
were of the latest pattern surreptitiously imported from England and
many of them faithfully copied by skilful, enlightened workmen; electri-
city was known and used, and the tastes of the people showed a refine-
ment almost equal to that of any European state. Yet in religion there
prevailed the crudest and most ignorant forms of superstition, one of
which was the horrible practice of burying alive all sick persons, while
the custom of the executioner accompanying the reigning monarch
everywhere, ready to obey the royal command, was distinctly a relic of
savage barbarism.
"A few moments ago you spoke of secrets that must be preserved," I
said presently, turning to Omar.
"Yes," he answered slowly. "But my heart is too full of poignant grief
to think of them. To-night the secrets are mine alone; to-morrow you
shall be in possession of at least one of them. I have, however, much yet
to do, I see, before I rest," he added, glancing over his shoulder into the
brilliant hall where stood the empty throne.
Then rising wearily, he sighed for Goliba's dead daughter, and
weighted by his rich robes, slowly strode across to the arched entrance
from which the light streamed forth, and as he set foot upon its threshold
every proud head bowed to earth in deep, abject obeisance.
174
Chapter 30
TREASURE AND TREASON.
At Omar's request a few days later I accompanied him alone through a
private exit of the palace, and ere long we found ourselves unnoticed
beyond the ponderous city walls, where two horses, held by a slave,
were awaiting us. Mounting, we rode straight for the open country, and
not knowing whither we were going or what were my companion's in-
tentions, we soon left the great city far behind. For fully three hours we
pressed forward, my companion avoiding any answer to my questions
as to our goal, until about noon we came to a rising mount in the midst
of a beautiful country with palms and scattered orange-groves.
The scene was a veritable paradise. Beautiful fruits peeped from
between the foliage, and every coloured, every scented flower, in agree-
able variety intermingled with the grass. Roses and woodbines, very
much like those in England, appeared in beauteous contention; while be-
neath great trees were rich flocks of birds of various feather. At the foot
of the hill ran a clear, transparent stream, which gently washed the mar-
gin of the green whereon we stood. On the other side a grove of myrtles,
intermixed with roses and flowering shrubs, led into shady mazes; in the
midst of which appeared the glittering tops of elegant pavilions, some of
which stood on the brink of the river, others had wide avenues leading
through the groves, and others were almost hidden from sight by inter-
vening woods. All were calculated to give the ideas of pleasure rather
than magnificence, and had more ease than labour conspicuous.
"Beautiful!" I cried, gazing entranced upon the scene.
"Yes. From the moment we left the city and passed through the ancient
gateway that you admired, we have been riding in my private domain.
Here, as far as the eye can reach, all is mine, the garden of the Sanoms.
But let us hasten forward. It was not to show you picturesque landscapes
that I brought you hither. We have much to do ere we return."
Skirting the stream, where flocks and herds stood gazing at their own
images and others drinking of the transparent waters, we found the
175
river, growing wider, opened into a spacious lake which was half sur-
rounded by a rising hill. From the lake, higher than the river, ran a glit-
tering cascade and over the pendant rocks fell luxuriant vines and creep-
ing plants. At the opposite extremity of the lake, which by its pure wa-
ters exposed the bright yellow pebbles on which it wantoned, two
streams ran towards the right and left of the hill and lost themselves
amidst the groves, pasture and hillocks of the adjacent country. The pro-
spects around us were beautiful and enchanting. Lofty trees threw a de-
lightful, welcome shade, and the hill-side seemed covered with flower-
ing shrubs, which grew irregularly except where a torrent from the sum-
mit, now dry, had during ages worn out a deep hollow bed for its rapid
passage and descent.
There were no roads or beaten paths in this secluded portion of the
royal domain, neither could there be seen any traces of habitation.
"Deep in yonder lake," said Omar, drawing up his horse suddenly and
swinging himself from his saddle near the spot where the waters, spring-
ing from beneath some green, moss-grown rocks, fell with gentle music
into the river—"deep in yonder lake there lies a hidden mystery."
"A mystery!" I cried. "What is it?"
"Have patience, and I will reveal to you a secret known only to myself
and to the Naya; the secret that I told you must be preserved."
"But you say it is buried beneath these waters!" I exclaimed, puzzled.
"How will you reveal it?"
"Watch closely, so that if occasion arises you will remember how to ex-
actly imitate my movements," he answered, and when we had tethered
our horses, he led me away from the edge of the lake up the hill-side
some distance to where a number of points of moss-grown rock cropped
up out of the turf.
After searching among them for some minutes he suddenly stopped
before one that rose from the ground about three feet and was perhaps
ten yards in circumference, examining it carefully, at last giving vent to
an ejaculation of satisfaction.
"You see this rock, Scars!" he cried. "Does anything about it appear to
you remarkable?"
I bent, and feeling it with both my hands, carefully examined its side,
top and base.
"No," I answered, laughing. "As far as I can detect it is the same as the
others."
"You would never guess anything hidden there?" he asked, smiling.
"No."
176
"Well, watch and I'll show you." And with these words the Naba of Mo
approached the rock at a point immediately facing me, and placing his
hands upon the side, about two feet from the ground, drew out bodily a
portion of its lichen-covered face about eighteen inches square, that had
been so deftly hewn that when in its place none could detect it had ever
been removed.
Peering into the cavity thus disclosed I saw, to my surprise, what ap-
peared to be a small iron lever, thickly rusted, descending into some cog-
wheeled mechanism of a very complicated character.
"Now, watch the lake while I reveal to you its mystery," my compan-
ion said, placing his hands upon the lever. With a harsh, grating noise it
fell back beneath the weight he threw upon it, and the harsh jarring of
cog-wheels revolving sounded for a few moments beneath our feet.
Then, as he set the mechanism in motion, my gaze was fixed upon the
lake and I stood aghast in wonderment.
As the lever was drawn and the rusty cogs ran into one another, the
whole mass of rock damming the lake above the small cascade where it
fell into the river, gradually rose, like a great sluice gate, allowing the
waters to escape and empty themselves, roaring and tumbling, into the
winding river beside which we had journeyed. It was an amazing trans-
formation, as imposing as it was unexpected. A few seconds before, the
river, shallow and peaceful, fed by its tiny cascade, rippled away over its
pebbly bed; now, however, with the great volume of water from the lake
it rose so rapidly that the swirling, boiling current overflowed its banks,
sweeping everything before it.
Nor was this the only result of pressing the lever, for at the opposite
end of the lake a similar outlet opened, and as I looked I saw the water
falling with a rapidity that was astounding. Hydraulic power was evid-
ently known to these strange semi-civilized people, yet the actual means
by which the lake was so rapidly emptied I was unable to discover, all
the machinery being hidden away in some subterranean chamber.
"By what cunning device is this accomplished?" I inquired of Omar,
who stood regarding the disappearing flood with satisfaction.
"This mechanism was invented ages ago by one of my ancestors," he
answered. "Its exact date no man can tell. But here water is given mas-
tery over itself, and so careful was its constructor to preserve the secret
of its existence that the slaves and workmen, all criminals, were kept
close prisoners during the whole time they were at work, and on its com-
pletion they were all, without a single exception, killed, in order that
none should know the secret save the reigning Naba and his heir."
177
"They were murdered then!"
"They were all criminals who for various serious crimes had been con-
demned to death. It is said they numbered over two hundred," Omar
answered.
But even as he had been speaking the water of the lake had so drained
away that its clean stony bottom was now revealed, the pebbles being
exposed in large patches here and there, while the deeper pools remain-
ing were alive with water-snakes and fish of all kinds. There seemed but
little mud, yet in the very centre of the great basin was a patch of pebbles
and rock higher than the remainder, standing like a small island that, be-
fore the lever had been touched, had been submerged. Leading the way,
Omar descended to the edge of the lake, skirted it for some little dis-
tance, until he came to a long row of flat stones placed together, forming
stepping-stones to the miniature island.
"Come," he said. "Follow me," and starting off we were soon crossing
the bed of the lake, being compelled to advance cautiously owing to the
slippery nature of the weeds and water-plants that overgrew the stones.
On gaining the island, however, a fresh surprise awaited me, for Omar,
halting amid the mud in the centre, exclaimed:
"Watch carefully, Scars. You may some day desire to act as I am acting;
but always remember that here any undue hurry means inevitable
death."
"Death! What do you mean?"
"Wait, and you shall see," he replied, as stooping suddenly he turned
up the sleeves of his royal robe and groping with his hand in the mud, at
last discovered an iron ring, green with slime, which, grasping with both
hands, he slowly twisted many times. A hissing sound was emitted, as if
the action of untwisting the ring relieved some heavy pressure, admit-
ting air to a chamber that had been hermetically sealed. This surmise
was, I afterwards learned, correct. The unscrewing of this ring caused the
sides of a plate embedded in the mud to contract, and air, so long ex-
cluded, entered the mysterious place below.
In a few moments, having paused to wipe the perspiration from his
brow, Omar, again grasping the slippery ring, gave it a sudden jerk and
by that means lifted the covering from a circular hole descending into
an impenetrable darkness, but bricked round like a cottage well in Eng-
land, and having projecting pieces of iron, forming steps.
"Now," exclaimed Omar, as together we peered into the mysterious
opening. "To descend at once would mean certain death."
"How? Is the air below foul?"
178
"Not at all. The ingenuity of my ancestor who constructed this place
made arrangements to avoid all that. The danger arises from a contriv-
ance he devised by which any person attempting to explore it and being
unaware of the means to guard against death, must be inevitably swept
into eternity. Now, in order to give you an illustration of this danger I
will show you the result of any adventurous person stepping down."
Taking from the mud a long iron bar, which he observed incidentally
was kept there for the purpose of guarding against death, he reached
down the shaft and placing the end of the bar upon the third step, threw
his whole weight upon it, saying:
"We will suppose you have descended until your feet stand upon this
step. Now, watch."
As the weight fell upon the step it gave way so slightly as to be almost
imperceptible, but suddenly from hidden cavities around the well-like
shaft there came six rings of long, sharp steel spikes, set inwards, three
above and three below, which, contracting as they came forward, met
and interlaced. In an instant I recognised what terrible fate would be the
lot of any adventurer who dared to enter that dark shaft. The action of
stepping upon that fatal projecting iron released hydraulic pressure of ir-
resistible power, and the unfortunate one, unable to ascend or descend
by reason of the danger being above and below, must be impaled by a
hundred cruel spikes, sharp and double-edged like spears, while the
bands whereon they were set must crush his bones to pulp.
I looked at this terrible device for producing an agonizing death and
shuddered. The precautions taken to prevent anyone entering the place
were the most elaborate and ingenious I had ever seen. Even if any per-
son learnt the secret of draining the lake, the shaft leading to the mysteri-
ous subterranean place was unapproachable by reason of this ex-
traordinary mechanical device.
During five minutes the spikes remained interlaced, then automatic-
ally they disengaged themselves, and slowly fell back into the cavity
running round the brickwork, wherein they remained concealed.
Thrice again did Omar repeat this action of pressing the bar upon the
step, each time with an exactly similar result, chatting to me the while.
Then, when for the third time the spikes had fallen back into their places,
he said:
"Now the secret to avoid this and lock the mechanism is to turn back
this little lever and place it in this catch, so. This cannot, however, be
done unless the step has been pressed three times."
179
And bending over he showed me another tiny lever thickly encrusted
with rust, secreted behind a movable brick in the first tier below the
lake's bottom. This he placed in position, securing it in a niche so that it
became immovable.
"Now," he said, "we may descend without fear," and with these words
knelt down, and after lighting a torch he had brought with him, com-
menced the descent into the cavernous gloom. I quickly followed, my
feet resting for a brief instant upon the fatal iron projection, but no spikes
came forward, for the terrible mechanism was now locked. Deep down
into this circular shaft we went, the smoke and sparks from Omar's torch
ever ascending into my face as I lowered myself from rung to rung, until
at last, at considerable depth, we found ourselves in a kind of natural
cavern. The place seemed damp and full of bad odours, to which submit-
ting with patience we, by a long passage, sometimes crawling under
rugged arches, sometimes wading in mud and dirt, attained the end of
the cavern, where we stumbled on some narrow steps; but the torch shed
little light, and we became nearly suffocated by the noisome vapours.
"I thought you said the air was fresh here," I exclaimed good-hu-
mouredly to my companion.
"So I did," he answered. "I cannot make out why it has become so foul.
The air-holes must have become accidentally stopped up."
The widening ascent was so intricate and clogged with dirt and rub-
bish that we worked like moles in the dark; nevertheless, by diligent in-
dustry we gained ground considerably, yet as we endeavoured to
mount, the slimy steps slipped from under us, and ever and anon we
would come tumbling down with a weight of dirt upon us.
After various labours, however, we suddenly entered a great cavern,
quite dry. From its roof hung great stalactites that glittered and sparkled
in the torch's uncertain light, while around the rough walls of this natur-
al chamber were heaped in profusion great heavy chests of iron and
adamant.
With the torch held high above his head Omar rushed across to the
pile and bending, examined one chest after the other. Then, raising him-
self as the truth suddenly dawned upon him, he cried in a hoarse, ex-
cited voice:
"By the power of Zomara, we have been tricked!"
"Tricked! How?" I gasped in alarm.
"Cannot you see?" he wailed. "This, the Treasure-house of the Sanoms,
has been entered and its contents, worth a fabulous sum, have been ex-
tracted! See! Each trunk has been forced by explosives!"
180
I gazed eagerly where he directed, and saw that the trunks of iron and
stone had been blown open by gunpowder, for on each remained a
blackened patch, showing plainly the means used to force the strong
chest wherein reposed the magnificent jewels, the vessels of gold, and
the historic gem-encrusted and invulnerable armour of the Nabas of Mo.
"Then this is the place the secret of which the villainous old Arab,
Samory, endeavoured to wrench from you by torture," I exclaimed, gaz-
ing round the grim, weird cavern.
"Yes," he answered. "This is the Treasure house of my ancestors. Since
the days of King Karmos each Naba or Naya has added to the great store
of treasure amassed for the purpose of the emancipation of our country
in the day of need. Only the reigning monarch and the heir have, in any
generation, ever known the secret of how the Treasure-house can be ap-
proached—the secret I have to-day revealed to you as Keeper of the
Treasure."
"But if you alone knew the secret, who could have ransacked the
place?" I asked. "The chests seem to have been recently opened."
"True," he answered, and pointing to a heap of bejewelled swords,
breastplates and helmets, that had apparently been hastily cast aside as
the least valuable of the great treasure, he added: "All the most historic
and beautiful jewels have been taken, and the gold vessels and things of
minor value left. See! It is plain that the theft was accomplished in all
haste, for there was scarce time to sort the gems that are unique from
those rivalled by others."
"It certainly looks as if the jewels were secured in feverish haste," I
said, at the same time picking up from the uneven floor a bronze oil
lamp lying overturned and discarded.
Together we set about making a systematic examination of the various
chests, numbering nearly one hundred. Those fashioned from single
stones were of great age, looking like coffins, while those of iron were
ponderous caskets bound with huge bands, studded and double-locked,
with great antique hinges of marvellous workmanship. With perhaps
half a dozen exceptions the lid of each had yielded to the charge of ex-
plosive placed beneath it, while in many cases the whole side of the cas-
ket had been blown completely out, injuring or destroying some of its
valuable contents. Jewellery and gems, set and unset, had been strewn
about and trodden into the dust by hurrying feet, and a few that I recog-
nized at once as of fabulous value had been overlooked. Stooping, I
picked up from the dirt a marvellously-cut ruby, almost the size of a
181
pigeon's egg. But the majority of the treasure-chests had been emptied.
The place had been visited, and the vast wealth of a nation stolen.
"For the first time in the long, glorious history of my land has the
Treasure-house been entered by thieves," Omar said, as if to himself. "No
mere adventurer can have been here; this great robbery is the result of
some base conspiracy. The treasure of the Sanoms, renowned through
the whole world as the most wondrous collection of magnificent and un-
surpassable gems, has been cleared out and the entrance re-closed in a
manner little short of marvellous. To-day is indeed a sad one for Mo, and
for me. My inheritance has been taken from me."
"By whom?" I inquired, continuing my way, examining one of the few
chests that had apparently not been tampered with. But, as in the gloom
I hastened from one casket to another, my foot suddenly struck against
some object, causing me to lose my balance, and thus tripped, were it not
for the fact that I clutched at the corner of the great chest, I should have
fallen upon my face.
Bending to examine what it was, I was amazed to discover the body of
a male slave, still dressed in the uniform of the servants of the palace, but
rapidly decomposing. It was the faint sickening odour emitted from the
corpse that had greeted our nostrils when we entered the place.
We both bent and looked at him, astounded at discovering, still im-
bedded in his back, a long keen knife. He had been struck down from be-
hind and murdered, while in the act of securing some of the treasure, for
his brown withered fingers still grasped a beautiful necklet of magnifi-
cent pearls, an ornament worth several thousand English pounds.
"That is one of the Naya's personal attendants," observed Omar, recog-
nizing the dress, but unable to distinguish the features of the murdered
man, so decomposed were they. "He perhaps participated in the plot,
and to secure his silence, or his portion of the booty, his fellow-conspirat-
ors struck him to earth."
"But to whom is due the chief responsibility in this affair?" I asked.
"Surely you have some suspicion?"
"I know not," he answered. "Besides myself only the Naya knew the
secret means by which the treasure might be reached."
"Then in all probability she secured it before her flight!" I cried.
"That may be the truth," he answered in a tone of suppressed agitation.
"Immediately she obtained knowledge through her spies of my intention
to disobey her, she may have secured the most valuable of the jewels and
had them packed ready to take them with her if compelled to flee. Yet
somehow I cannot believe she has done this, for their removal must have
182
attracted attention. No, I believe we shall have to look in another quarter
for the thief." Then, bending again to examine the hilt of the knife em-
bedded in the body of the unfortunate slave, he added: "That poignard
was hers. She carried it always in her girdle, and it seems, after all, as
though this man was her confidant and assistant, and that here alone she
closed his lips by murdering him. Yet to her, life was more valuable than
the treasure, and I cannot believe that she risked detection and capture in
order to secure what she might afterwards obtain by the assistance of
hirelings."
"A dark tragedy has certainly been enacted," I said, glancing around
the gruesome place with its gloomy corners and crevices where the
blackness was impenetrable. "The theft has been accompanied by a secret
assassination at some coward's hand."
"Yes," he exclaimed, standing with folded arms and chin sunk upon
his breast. "The great treasure, belonging not only to our family but to
our nation, has been stolen, and I swear by Zomara's power that I will
seek out the thief and recover it. I am Naba, and it is my duty to my
people to restore their wealth to its hiding-place. Each successive ruler
has enriched his country by making additions to the store of jewels, and
it shall never be recorded that on finding the most valuable of our pos-
sessions stolen, I made no effort to trace and recover them. True, they
have been abstracted in a manner almost miraculous for ingenuity and
rapidity, but from this moment I will not rest until they are recovered.
And you, Scarsmere, as Keeper of the Treasure-house, shall assist me."
"I am ready," I answered, excited at the prospect of this new task be-
fore us. "We will spare no effort to seek the thief and recover the Treas-
ure of the Sanoms. It is, as you declare, a duty, and I am ready and
anxious to commence the search."
183
Chapter 31
A SPY'S STARTLING STORY.
We remained fully two hours in the noisome Treasure-chamber of the
Sanoms, the early history of which was lost in the mist of legendary lore,
then after careful and minute examination of the rifled chests, worked
our way to the base of the shaft, and, having ascended, let down the tiny
concealed lever, thereby allowing the pressure to increase, and place in
position the ingenious contrivance for causing death to the venturesome.
Replacing the iron plate that closed the mouth of the well-like aperture,
we screwed it down, rendering it water-tight, and, crossing the stones,
regained the bank of the lake. Then, having turned back the lever, the
flood-gates slowly closed down again, and, ere we mounted our horses
to ride back to the city, the waters, fed by the many torrents, had already
risen sufficiently to hide the slime-covered entrance to the secret
chamber.
One of the greatest thefts in the world's history had been committed,
and the question that puzzled us was the identity of the thief. Our first
suspicions had fallen upon the Naya, but calmly discussing the question
as we rode back, we both became convinced that so critical was the de-
posed ruler's position, that she would never have undertaken all the
risks in removing the treasure. She knew she was in deadly peril of her
life, and that every moment lost was of vital importance, therefore it was
hardly probable that she would have delayed her departure to secure the
wealth of her ancestors.
Omar argued that if compelled to fly she might have afterwards en-
trusted the secret of the Treasure-house to spies, who could have re-
turned and secured the jewels. That she had not done this was certain,
for the time that had elapsed since her flight was insufficient.
I suggested that the detachment of Samory's men who had entered the
city during the revolt might have had knowledge of the secret and se-
cured the treasure, but Omar pointed out that none in Samory's camp
184
could have been aware of the means by which the place could be
entered, Kouaga himself being in ignorance.
"Then the thief was the Naya herself," I said, decisively.
"No; after all, I am not actually positive that such is the case," he
answered. "There are facts connected with the affair, trivial in them-
selves, that lead me to believe otherwise."
"What are they?"
"One is that the wonderful ruby necklet, an ornament of matchless
gems that belonged to King Karmos and is one of the talismans of the
Sanoms, has been left. I found it flung aside and discarded. Had the
Naya committed the theft she would have secured this first of all, be-
cause of our family tradition that no reigning Sanom can live longer than
three moons without it is in his or her possession."
"But you retain it," I said. "You, at least, are safe."
"Yes," he replied thoughtfully. "Yet if the Naya had intended to secure
the treasure for herself she would most certainly have taken this first of
all. It is one of the most historic and valuable ornaments of the royal jew-
els of Mo, besides being one in which most superstition is centred. In her
flight she would entertain the bitterest ill-feeling towards me and desire
my rule to be brief. Therefore, she must have stolen the necklet; she
would have secured that, if nothing else."
I was compelled to agree with this view, especially as he added that
one of the most firm beliefs of the Sanoms had ever been that Zomara
would send vengeance most terrible upon any who removed the treas-
ure from its chests without the sanction of the people. No, it seemed
evident that some third person had been in possession of the secret.
Who, we knew not, but were determined to discover.
On returning to the palace I stood, as usual, beside the Emerald
Throne while its occupant gave audience to those who came to make
obeisance and offer congratulations. The Court of the Naba Omar was
even more brilliant than that of his mother had been, and at evening, un-
der the bright lights, was, indeed, a glittering assembly, where the gems
worn by officials and courtiers almost dazzled one's eyes by their
profuseness.
Days passed—bright, peaceful days succeeding the brief period of fe-
verish excitement and deadly hatred. Mo had become herself again; her
people assured that an era of liberty and prosperity had recommenced,
her ruler leaving no effort unspared to act in the best interests of his be-
loved nation. By day the great sunny courts of the palace, with the bright
flowers and fruit-laden vines, rang with the tramp of armed men and
185
tall, stately officials; by night the sounds of revelry, music and dancing
awakened the echoes of the great moon-lit colonnades, and was wafted
on the sweet-scented air afar beyond the grim, frowning outer walls.
Yet the burden of kingship seemed to press heavily upon the young
Naba. Though wearing no diadem, his brow soon became furrowed, as if
by its weight, and his air was one of constant preoccupation. His change
of manner puzzled me. His mind appeared overshadowed by some
gloomy foreboding, the nature of which I could by no amount of cau-
tious questioning elicit. During each day he attended assiduously
without relaxation to affairs of state, and when night drew on and the in-
mates of the great luxurious palace, a veritable city within a city, gave
themselves up to reckless enjoyment, he was seldom present, for he
would withdraw to one of his small private apartments, and there sit,
pretending to read, but in reality brooding in silence. One poignant sor-
row had transformed him from a bright, happy youth, to a man sad-
eyed, dull, morose. Sometimes, as I watched, I noticed how he would
suddenly sigh heavily, and set his teeth as a bitter relentless expression
would flit for an instant across his countenance, and I knew that at such
moments there entered into his heart the contemplation of a fierce and
terrible revenge.
Even to me, his constant companion, whose opinion he sought almost
hourly, he made no mention of his heart's sorrow, yet from close obser-
vation through many days, I knew the cause of his overwhelming grief
was the loss of Liola. He never mentioned her, for the day after we had
ascertained the truth about her tragic end, he had taken me aside and
asked me never to allow her name to pass my lips in his presence.
"Memories are painful, you know, Scars," he had said. "I must try and
forget, try and live down my sorrow if I can, although I fear I shall carry
it with me to the grave."
These words I often remembered when, alone with him, I watched the
look of ineffable sadness upon his face. In the Hall of Audience, the
centre of his brilliant court, his face was always pleasant, smiling and full
of good-nature, as it had ever been; but, alas! it was only a mask, for
alone, in the privacy of his chamber, he cast it aside and gave himself up
to debauches of melancholy painful to behold.
Thus weeks lengthened into months. He had wished me to keep from
the people the great loss sustained by the robbery from the Treasure-
house, believing that in the circumstances silence was best, and I had not
breathed a word to a soul, not even to Kona or Goliba. The city had re-
sumed its old look of prosperity, its markets were crowded daily, and its
186
populace were content in the knowledge that under the re-
formed régime they were free. Although once every week, Omar, with his
court, descended to the Temple of Zomara, and there adored the
Crocodile-god, human sacrifices had been discontinued, and the worship
of the giant idol was devoid of those revolting practices introduced by
the Naya. Of the latter, no tidings had been gleaned. Although every ef-
fort had been made to trace her, she had disappeared. Of the treasure of
the Sanoms, too, nothing had been heard. How it had been conveyed out
of Mo remained an inscrutable mystery.
I confess to being astonished that Omar seldom, if ever, spoke of either
of these matters, which had at first so seriously agitated him. Whether he
had relinquished all thought of recovering the jewels collected by his an-
cestors, or whether he was endeavouring to formulate some plan of ac-
tion I knew not, yet his unwillingness to speak of them was, to say the
least, noteworthy.
"Niaro has to-day returned from the gate of Mo," I observed one even-
ing when we were sitting alone together in one of the smaller courts, the
night air stirred by the distant sound of stringed instruments and the
thumping of Moorish tam-tams. "He has sent messengers by the Way of
the Thousand Steps far into the lands beyond, but no word have they
been able to gather regarding the Naya."
"She has escaped the mad vengeance of our people, who would have
killed her," he said, calmly. "For that I am thankful."
"You seem to have no desire that she should be captured," I said.
"None. She has escaped. After all it is best."
"But the treasure," I said, dropping my voice so that no eavesdropper
might overhear. "Its hiding place, like the thief, is still unknown."
"Yes," he answered. "Unknown at present, but ere long some discovery
must be made. When it is, I anticipate it will be a startling one."
Our conversation was interrupted at that moment by the approach of a
slave who, bowing low until his brow touched our carpet, said:
"One of thy servants, O Master, desireth to have speech with thee. He
hath sped from afar upon the wings of haste and beareth tidings."
"Of what?" cried Omar, starting up.
"I know not, O Master. The name of thy servant who awaiteth audi-
ence with thee is Makhana, who cometh from beyond the great black
water."
"Makhana!" we both cried, and Omar ordered that he should be admit-
ted immediately, and without ceremony. Then, turning to me, he
187
explained that on ascending the throne he had sent a message to
Makhana in London ordering him to return at once.
A moment later the secret agent of Mo, a tall, sparse figure, attired in
shabby European clothes, entered, and, snapping fingers with his mas-
ter, greeted and congratulated him. Then, casting himself upon the mat
near us, he began to tell us what had occurred after our flight from East-
bourne, and relate the latest news from the civilised land we had left so
many months before. I also told him how we had been enticed away by
Kouaga, and the order of the Naya for Omar's assassination.
"Much has happened since I returned," Omar observed, when I had
concluded. "As you have no doubt already heard, my mother has been
deposed, and I have been enthroned in her stead."
"Yes," the secret agent answered. "I have already heard all this, and al-
though I wish you every peace and prosperity, I have, I regret, to make a
startling announcement."
"What is it?" gasped Omar, with wide-open eyes.
"Our enemy, Samory, is upon us!"
"Samory!" we both cried.
"Yes. Not much longer than a moon past I was crossing the mountains
of Niene, near the confines of his country, on my way hither from the
sea, and learnt the truth. Two moons ago, accompanied by twenty thou-
sand armed men, Kouaga marched out of Koussan to obtain savage allies
for an expedition, having for its object the conquest of Mo."
"The conquest of our country!" Omar cried astounded. "Only a week
before we returned hither one of his expeditions was utterly routed and
slaughtered in the Grave of Enemies. Now another has been dispatched!
What route has it taken?"
"On learning the news I at once reassumed native dress, crossed into
our enemy's country and acted as spy," Makhana answered, his fierce-
looking eyes glistening in the moonlight. "In Koussan I ascertained that
the expedition, led by Kouaga, the man who was once our Grand Vizier,
had gone northward one moon's journey towards the Niger, his inten-
tion being to skirt the country of the Aribanda and to enter our territory
from the north by crossing the Hombori Mountains."
"You have done well to ascertain this and hasten on," Omar answered.
"But there is only one pass by which the Hombori can be crossed."
"That is known to Kouaga, for three years ago he led our army
through it to the successful conquest of the border tribes of the Massina.
He is now a formidable enemy, for he knows all the secret approaches
and the whereabouts of our hidden defences."
188
"We must dispatch an army at once to meet them," Omar said, after a
thoughtful pause.
"No time should be lost," Makhana urged. "Already they are due at the
Hombori, and it will occupy our expedition fully two weeks to reach
there. Yet Samory's hordes may be delayed, and if so, we shall be able to
hold the pass successfully and sweep them down as they advance. I have
brought with me from England the ten additional Maxims ordered by
the Naya."
"Excellent, let them be given into Kona's charge," Omar exclaimed, ex-
plaining briefly that the Dagomba head-man was now in command of
the troops, and then turning to the slave who stood in waiting he
ordered that Kona should be fetched immediately, and that the council
and principal officers should be at once summoned.
In a few minutes we saw upon the clear night-sky long beams of light,
and knew that signals were being flashed from Mo to the furthermost
limits of the kingdom, summoning the officers from their various posts
to a council of war. Twenty thousand men, with a similar number of sav-
age allies, under a leader who was well acquainted with all the intrica-
cies of the secret way were advancing upon Mo, and the faces of the of-
ficers and members of the council became grave when, on arrival at the
palace, they heard the astounding news.
That Mo was threatened by a serious calamity was recognized by
everyone. The news spread through the city quickly, and throughout the
night the streets were agog. Only by swift vigorous defence, by pushing
a great force forward night and day to the point of attack, could a cata-
strophe be averted. This was the unanimous opinion of the Naba's ad-
visers, and ere the sun rose the first detachment of the defending army
was already on its way to meet the Arab invaders.
Kouaga evidently meant making a sudden descent upon the mysteri-
ous country, and if his force once accomplished the passage through the
mountain pass they would then no doubt make a rapid dash towards the
capital itself, and would approach it at its only vulnerable point.
If this occurred, then the slaughter must be terrible and the cata-
strophe complete.
189
Chapter 32
WAR.
Twelve days later I found myself accompanying Kona who, at the head
of a great force of over eighteen thousand men, was crossing the treach-
erous quicksands by the Way of the Thousand Steps. The critical position
of Mo had been fully discussed by Omar, his officers and sages, and it
had been decided to send, in addition to the force of twenty thousand
men to the Hombori Mountains on the northern frontier, a second ex-
pedition to travel with all swiftness across the sandy plain and make a
dash upon Samory's stronghold at Koussan in the absence of its picked
troops.
Within two days after Makhana had brought news of the coming inva-
sion, the whole of the twenty thousand men, with Omar himself at their
head, had marched out of the capital on their way to defend the pass. I
had expressed a wish to accompany them, but my friend had requested
me to go with the expedition to Samory's capital because, having been
there in captivity, I could act as guide. To this I made no objection, and
bidding farewell to Omar, Goliba and Niaro at the city gate, I had
watched them ride away at the head of a brilliant cavalcade, and the
same evening at sundown descended the face of the cliff by the long
flight of steps, and jumping into the saddle of a horse held ready for me,
rode with all haste to catch up Kona who, as leader of our expedition,
had already started for the gigantic precipice known as the Gate of Mo.
To Niaro, an excellent officer, the leadership of the defending force
had been entrusted, as he had already had experience of fighting in the
Hombori country, having been second in command of Kouaga's expedi-
tion when he conquered the tribes of Massina, while Kona, who had
with him his valiant Dagombas, had orders to enrol another thousand
men of that tribe when passing through their territory, prior to our dash
upon Samory's country.
The passage to the desert by the Way of the Thousand Steps was a bril-
liant feat, for of our great force not a single life was lost, and so rapidly
190
did we travel, that within two weeks of the day we left the palace, our
Dagombas, who preferred their native spears and arrows to firearms,
were enrolled and we were well on our way to the Great Salt Road, a
mere native path notwithstanding its imposing designation, towards
Samory's great fortress-city.
Heedless of the noontide heat we pushed forward over stony desert
and green grass-land, now plunging into those gloomy dismal forests of
eternal darkness where the stench of decaying vegetation sickened us,
only to emerge again into the open plain devoid of shade, scorched by
the pitiless rays of the fiery sun. Snatching brief rests, and pushing for
ever onward our great host of armed men and carriers, with the vigilant
Kona at their head, pressed forward, entering at last the land of our
enemies.
The Dagomba scouts, travelling before us, splendid fellows, all eyes
and ears, who could detect the slightest indication of an enemy's pres-
ence far or near, whether it were the broken twig at one's feet or the sud-
den rising of a bird in the distance, kept us well informed of all transpir-
ing on every side. For a hundred miles we marched through the Arab
chieftain's land without any of its inhabitants dreaming of the presence
of a hostile force, and it was only by our sudden descent one night upon
the small walled town of Torola, which we sacked and burned, that they
were awakened to the truth.
But ere the news could spread to Koussan, about forty English miles
distant, we, by a forced march, had already reached the capital. Making a
dash upon the place by night with our Maxim and Hotchkiss guns, the
garrison were completely taken by surprise, nevertheless so well were its
high white walls defended, that our forces were driven back with severe
loss.
Undaunted however, Kona, who placed himself at the head of our
Dagomba allies, backed by the well-armed soldiers of Mo, made a
second assault upon a point that had been indicated by our spies as
weaker than the others. The fighting was desperate, and the sight,
viewed from where I was standing with the reinforcements, was one of
exceeding grandeur. Night was rendered almost bright as day by the
constant flashing of guns, and the noise of the tumult ever increasing
sounded high above the constant roar of artillery. Suddenly, as I gazed
across the plain to where the sharp conflict was proceeding, a brilliant
blue flash blinded me and an instant later a deafening explosion caused
the ground to tremble, while the red light of the guns gleamed through
the increasing veil of smoke, and I saw that our men had successfully
191
placed a mine beneath that portion of the fortifications near where they
were fighting, and it had been fired, effecting a great breach through
which they next moment poured, engaging the defenders hand to hand.
Soon afterwards a signal light flashed thrice, as had been agreed, and
six thousand men, including myself, sped over the plain to reinforce our
comrades. Soon, clambering over the fallen masonry where the enorm-
ous breach had been made, I found myself with my sword, the one I had
used in the conquest of Mo, hacking right and left, endowed with a
strength that only came to me in moments of intense excitement.
The dash we made was indeed a brilliant one. The Arab defenders
were, we found, fully equal to us in numbers and were withal magnifi-
cent soldiers, for in the broad squares of the city their cavalry, with their
white flowing robes and heavy curved swords, committed frightful hav-
oc in our ranks, yet in such numbers had we clambered into the great
chieftain's stronghold that they became gradually hampered in the
streets and, unable to manœuvre, were compelled to dismount and en-
gage us in combat. The fight proved an even more desperate and bloody
one than that which resulted in the dethronement of the Naya. So
equally matched were the forces, that the struggle raged with frightful
ferocity, each side determined to secure the victory. In the old Moorish-
looking streets, so narrow that two asses could scarce pass abreast, there
were encounters more desperate than any I had ever witnessed, for the
soldiers of Samory and the fighting-men of Mo, the two most fierce and
valiant forces in the whole of the African continent, were pitted against
each other.
Cutting our way forward, I found myself at last beneath the high
whitewashed wall of the great Djamäa Thelatha Biban, or Mosque of the
Three Gates, one of the most ancient in the city. I recognised it by its fine
dome standing out white against the flame-illumined sky, and re-
membered that when a captive in the hands of the brutal Arab ruler,
Omar had translated to me the fine Kufic inscription on its handsome
façade, recording its construction by Mohammed Ibn Kheiroun el-
Maäferi in the second century of the Hedjira. For a moment I paused un-
der its handsome entrance of black and white marble, when suddenly
Kona rushed towards me, crying:
"Quick, Master! Fly for thy life, here, across the square!" and as he tore
away as fast as his long black legs would carry him, I followed
wondering.
Scarcely had we reached the opposite side of the great market-place
when a deafening roar sounded, and an instant later, as I turned, I saw
192
the great dome crack, tremble and collapse, together with the high white
minaret, while the whole of its façade fell out with a terrific crash in the
opposite direction. Our men had blown up the principal mosque in
Samory's capital, an action which increased tenfold the rage of our fierce
fanatical enemies.
With loud yells they fell upon us from every quarter, when a few
minutes later they realised what had been done, and during the next
hour the conflict became terrific. Hundreds were struck to earth by bul-
lets and swords, and it appeared to me, striving as I was in the midst of
the smoke and heat of battle, that the longer we fought the more numer-
ous became the defenders, and the less our chance of success. Yet slowly
we had succeeded in cutting our way from the city wall up the hill
crowned by the great white Kasbah, or fortress, which constituted
Samory's palace, and were now actually within sight of it. Fiercely exert-
ing every muscle we fought to attain our goal, but so desperate was the
defence, that time after time our forward movement was prevented, and
we were compelled to fall back bleeding and frustrated. In these valiant
attempts to reach the walls of the Kasbah there fell, at a low estimate,
fully five hundred of that portion of the force to which I had attached
myself. With reinforcements we might have flung back the defenders,
yet separated as we had been into small bodies during the earlier
manœuvres, fighting was now taking place in every part of the city, no
two bodies being able to unite their forces.
To thus cut us off one from another had, no doubt, been the tactics of
the defenders, for we afterwards learnt that in many instances the smal-
ler of our gallant little bands had been slaughtered literally to a man.
At last, however, my worst fears began to be realized, for the defend-
ers, receiving reinforcements, swooped suddenly down upon us, and
with their swords and those sharp double-edged knives they carried in
their belts, wrought frightful havoc among us everywhere, while upon
us another body poured a terrible fire from their long-barrelled rifles.
As result of this, although we made a spirited stand, once again we
were compelled to fall back in confusion, leaving many dead and dying
upon the stones. Suddenly I heard Kona's well-known voice behind me
uttering the fierce war yell of the Dagombas, and next instant we found
to our satisfaction that a great body of his dark oily-faced warriors had
come to our relief. The reckless and savage manner in which they fought
a few moments later was astounding, and it was certainly due to their
courage and strength that the Arabs were first forced back and then cut
to pieces and utterly routed.
193
This, however, did not carry us much further towards the Kasbah, for
when within an ace of gaining its walls, another body of Arabs swept
across the great square with its clump of date-palms, and with cries of
rage attacked us vigorously with rifle and sword. The combat again be-
came terrible, and in it I received from a big, raw-boned Arab a severe
sword-cut over the left wrist that caused me excruciating pain. Still I
fought on, although half fearing that our expedition was ill-fated. We
had believed Samory's capital practically denuded of troops, and of such
strenuous opposition as that offered we had never dreamed.
But the assertion of the West Coast tribes that the soldiers of the mystic
land of Mo know not fear is certainly true, for never once did they falter,
although the citadel seemed absolutely unassailable by reason of the
fierceness and strength of its defence.
Through the dark night hours we had fought on revengefully, and
when dawn spread the grey glimmering light disclosed the terrible result
of the deadly fray. Dead and wounded lay everywhere, and through the
suffocating smoke the fire of the rifles now seemed yellow where in the
darkness it had appeared blood-red. By some means the Arabs rallied
their forces, and I confess that the sight of the overwhelming numbers
opposing us caused my courage to fail. Swiftly and unrelentlessly the at-
tack upon us was delivered, and with such vigour that our van fell back,
weak and decimated. Suddenly, without warning, a sound above the din
broke upon our ears, startling us.
The rapid cackling was unmistakable, and involuntarily I burst into a
good old-fashioned English cheer. One of our Maxims had been tardily
brought into play!
Ere a few moments had elapsed the Arabs, having already had a taste
of the terrible effect of the deadly weapon during the recent campaign
against the French and English, stood panic-stricken. Their hesitation
proved fatal. Under the hail of lead they were mowed down, and ere the
remainder could recover from their astonishment a second weapon was
brought into play, riddling their ranks with showers of death-dealing
missiles.
194
Chapter 33
THE HAREM SLAVE.
A Dozen times were we driven back by overwhelming numbers of
Arabs, but as many times we dashed forward again, determined to strike
a fatal, irrisistible blow at the power of the egotistical and fanatical chief-
tain whose depredations had earned for him the appelation of "The Pir-
ate of the Niger." Every nation in Western Africa, save the dwellers in the
mystic land of Mo, existed in daily fear of raids by his ruthless armed
bands, who, travelling rapidly across desert and forest, devastated whole
regions, seizing cattle, laying waste prosperous and fertile districts,
burning towns and villages, and reducing their weaker neighbours to
slavery. Indeed, no bodies of armed men throughout the whole of the
great African continent, including even the Tuaregs, were so reckless in
their attacks, or so fiendish in their wholesale butchery of those who re-
sented the ruin and devastation of their homes. It was therefore scarcely
surprising that this brigandish horde, whose power even European na-
tions failed to break, should throw themselves into the conflict with reck-
less enthusiasm, and repel our attack by the exertion of every muscle.
In point of numbers we were much inferior; our superiority existed
only in our arms. Their old-fashioned bronze field-pieces, flint-lock pis-
tols and long-barrelled Arab guns, although deadly weapons in the
hands of such expert shots, proved no match against such irresistible ap-
pliances as the Maxim, the Hotchkiss, or the modern English-made rifle.
This fact very soon became apparent, for although the fierce battle raged
for many hours, and Samory himself, in yellow robe, and mounted upon
a snow-white stallion, gorgeously caparisoned, could be seen urging on
his hordes to valiant deeds, we nevertheless everywhere made a firm
stand at various points of vantage, and by no effort were they able to dis-
lodge us.
When the sun rose, red and fiery through the veil of smoke, the in-
creasing weakness of the defence was visibly demonstrated by the man-
ner in which the entrance to the Kasbah was guarded. The great doors of
195
iron were closed and barred securely, and on the walls the crimson fezes
of the defenders showed in profusion, but presently Kona, as we drove
back the soldiers of Al-Islâm almost for the hundredth time, shouted the
order to storm the citadel. With one accord we made a mad, reckless
rush an instant later, and carried on by the thousands of my comrades
behind, I found myself slashing to right and left under the high, sun-
blanched walls of the enormous fortress. Kona, appearing a giant even
among his tall Dagombas, gave one the impression in those critical mo-
ments of a veritable demon, filled as he was with a mad excitement and
knowing that upon the success of our assault depended the result of the
expedition. Towering above his fellows, his long spear in hand, he
seemed to lead a charmed existence, swaying to and fro among whistling
bullets, whizzing arrows, flashing swords and whirring spears. His own
weapon he dyed in the blood of his adversaries times without number,
for where he struck he never failed to kill. His aim was unerring, and his
courage that of a lion of his native forest.
In those furious moments I escaped death only by a miracle. As I
dashed forward to seek shelter beneath the ponderous wall, a tall Arab,
with long brown hairy arms, swung his curved sword high above his
head and brought it down with such force that had I not dodged him just
in time, he would have smashed my skull. Lowering my rifle quickly till
its muzzle almost touched his flowing garments, I fired, but unfortu-
nately the bullet passed beneath his arm-pit, and flattened itself against
the wall. Again, muttering some fearful imprecation in Arabic, he raised
his gleaming blade, and, unable to fire at such close quarters, I was then
compelled to use my rifle to ward off his attack. For an instant we
struggled desperately, when suddenly he gave his sword a rapid twist,
jerking my weapon from my hands and leaving me unarmed at his
mercy.
His features broadened into a brutal grin as, noticing me fumbling for
my pistol, he again raised his razor-edged Moorish blade, and holding it
at arm's length, gave one vigorous slash at me. Pressed forward towards
him by men engaged in mortal conflict behind me, I could not evade
him, and was about to receive the full force of what my adversary inten-
ded should be a fatal blow, when suddenly a savage spear struck him
full in the throat, and stuck quivering there.
Instantly his sinewy arm fell, the heavy sword dropped from his
nerveless fingers, and he stumbled backward and fell to earth like a log.
196
"Thou art safe, O Master!" a voice cried cheerily behind me, and turn-
ing, I saw that the man who had thrown his spear and saved my life was
Kona.
Shouting an expression of thanks I bent, and, unable to recover my lost
rifle in the frightful mêlée, snatched up the dead Arab's sword that had so
nearly caused my death, then fought on by my deliverer's side. His
wounds were many, for blood was flowing from cuts and gashes innu-
merable in his bare black flesh, yet he appeared insensible to pain, striv-
ing forward, gasping as he dealt each blow, determined to conquer.
The fight continued with unabated fury—the bloodshed was horrible.
The open square before the gate of the Kasbah was transformed into a
veritable slaughter-yard, the stones being slippery with blood, and pas-
sage rendered difficult by the corpses that lay piled everywhere. At last,
however, while engaged in another warm corner, the shrill, awe-inspir-
ing war cry of the Dagombas again sounded above the tumult, and turn-
ing, I saw that by some means our men had opened the great gate, and
that they were pouring into the spacious courtyards that I so well
remembered.
Our assault, though fiercely and savagely repelled, was at last success-
ful. We were entering the stronghold of Samory, and had achieved a feat
that the well-equipped expeditions of the French and English had failed
to accomplish.
The Arabs during the next quarter of an hour struggled bravely
against their adversity and fought with a dogged courage of which I had
not believed them capable. Soon, however, finding themselves
conquered, they cried for quarter. Had they known the peculiar tempera-
ment of the Dagombas and the soldiers of Mo, they would never thus
have implored mercy. But they cried out, and some even sank on their
knees in the blood of their dead comrades, uttering piteous appeals. But
the Arabs of Samory had never shown mercy to the Dagombas or the
people of Mo, and consequently our army, in the first flush of their vic-
tory, filled with the awful lust for blood, treated their cries with jeers,
and as they advanced into court after court within the great Kasbah
walls, they fell upon all they met, armed or unarmed, men or women,
and massacred them where they stood.
The appeal shouted time after time by Kona to view our victory in
temperate spirit and spare those who submitted, was disregarded by all
in this wholesale savage butchery. The scene within the Arab chieftain's
stronghold was, alas! far more horrible than any I had witnessed during
the revolt in Mo. Guards, officials and slaves of Samory's household
197
were indiscriminately put to the sword, some of the men being hunted
into corners and speared by the Dagombas, while others were forced
upon their knees by the soldiers of Mo and mercilessly decapitated. The
door of the great harem, long ago reputed to contain a thousand inmates,
including slaves, was burst open, and in those beautiful and luxuriant
courts and chambers the whole of the women were butchered with a
brutality quite as fiendish as any displayed by the Arabs themselves. The
handsome favourites of Samory in their filmy garments of gold tissue
and girdles of precious stones were dragged by their long tresses from
their hiding places and literally hacked to pieces, their magnificent and
costly jewels being torn from them and regarded as legitimate loot.
Women's death-screams filled the great courts and corridors; their life-
blood stained the pavements of polished jasper and bespattered the con-
querors. The Dagombas, finding themselves inside this extensive abode
of luxury, where beautiful fountains shot high into the morning sunlight,
sweet-smelling flowers bloomed everywhere and sensuous odours from
perfuming-pans hung heavily in the air, seemed suddenly transformed
into a demoniac horde bent upon the most ruthless devastation. They re-
membered that times without number had the Sofas of Samory burnt
their villages and towns, and carried hundreds of their tribesmen away
as slaves; they were now seeking revenge for past wrongs.
As, nauseated by the sight of blood, I witnessed these awful atrocities,
I reflected that the curse of Zomara, uttered solemnly by Omar when
Samory had sold us to the slave-dealers, had at last fallen upon the Arab
chieftain.
Omar had prophesied the downfall of Samory, and his utterance was
now fulfilled.
Screams, piercing and heart-rending, sounded everywhere, mingled
with the fierce war-shouts of our savage allies, as, time after time, some
unfortunate woman in gorgeous garb and ablaze with valuable gems
was discovered, dragged unceremoniously from her hiding-place to the
great court wherein I stood, her many necklets ruthlessly torn from her
white throat and a keen sword drawn across it as a butcher would
calmly despatch a lamb. Then, when life had ebbed, her body would be
cast into the great basin of the fountain, where hundreds of others had
already been pitched.
In other parts of the Kasbah a similar massacre was proceeding, none
of those found therein being allowed to escape; while an active search
was everywhere in progress for Samory himself.
198
From where I stood I witnessed the breaking up of the Arab ruler's
throne, and the tearing down of the great canopy of amaranth silk under
which Samory had reclined when, with Omar, I had been brought before
him. The crescent of solid gold that had surmounted it was handed to
Kona, who broke it in half beneath his heel as sign of the completeness of
his victory. Then, when the destruction of the seat of the brutal autocrat
was complete, the débris with the torn silk, and the long strips of crimson
cloth, whereon good counsels from the Korân were embroidered in Kufic
characters of gold, that had formed a kind of frieze to the chamber, were
carried out into the court by fifty willing hands, heaped up and there
burnt.
While watching the flames leaping up consuming the wrecked re-
mains of the royal seat of the powerful Arab ruler, a woman's scream,
louder than the rest, caused me to look suddenly round at the latest vic-
tim of the Dagombas' thirst for vengeance, and I beheld in the clutches of
half-a-dozen savages, a young woman, dragged as the others had been
by her fair, unbound hair towards the spot where each had, in turn, been
murdered. She was dressed in a rich, beautiful robe of bright yellow silk,
embroidered with pale pink flowers, but her garments were bedraggled
with water and blood, and her bleeding wrists and fingers showed with
what heartless brutality her jewels had been torn from her by her pitiless
captors. She struggled frantically to free herself, but without avail, and
one of the savages, noticing a magnificent diamond bangle upon her
ankle, bent, and tried to force it off.
Just at that moment, in endeavouring to twist herself free from their
clutches, her fair face became turned towards me and her deep blue, ter-
rified eyes for an instant met mine.
Next second I uttered a cry of recognition. Yes, there was no mistake
about that flawless complexion, those handsome features or those won-
drous eyes, the mysterious depths of which had enthralled me, as they
had done Omar.
It was Liola!
With a bound I sprang forward, tearing at the knot of savages and
shouting to them to release her. At first they only grinned hideously, no
doubt thinking that I desired her as a slave, and as they had decided that
all should die without exception, in order that their conquest should be
rendered the more complete, they were in no way disposed to obey my
command. At last I succeeded in arresting their progress, when the man
who had attempted to wrench from her ankle the diamond ornament
shook his long, keen knife threateningly at me, while the others yelled all
199
kinds of imprecations. Not liking his fierce attitude, and knowing that in
the heat of victory they were capable of turning upon friends who at-
tempted to thwart them, I drew back, and as I did so he flung himself
upon one knee and raised his knife over Liola's foot.
Instantly I saw his intention. He meant to hack off her foot in order to
secure the bangle, a horrible proceeding that had been carried out more
than once before my eyes within the past hour. There was, I knew, but
one way to save her, therefore without hesitating I drew my revolver
and fired at him point blank.
The ball pierced his breast. With an agonized cry he clutched for a mo-
ment wildly at the air, then fell back dead.
My action, as I fully expected it would, aroused the intense ire of his
companions and all released Liola, now insensible, and sprang at me,
their ready knives flashing in the sunlight. I was compelled to fly, and
had it not been for Kona, who, standing some distance off watching the
reduction of Samory's throne to ashes, took in the situation at a glance,
sped in their direction, and ordered his men to stop and tell him the
cause, I should undoubtedly have lost my life. As their head-man his
word was law. Then, glancing at the inanimate form of Liola, who, hav-
ing fainted, had been left lying on the blood-stained pavement, he recog-
nized her as Goliba's daughter, and in a dozen words told his men that
she was the betrothed of the young Naba of Mo, and that I, his friend,
had saved her.
The savages, aghast at this statement, and recognizing how near they
had been to murdering the beloved of the Naba Omar, rushed towards
me penitent, urging that they might be forgiven, and declaring that their
conduct, under the circumstances, was excusable. They had, they said,
no idea that they would find in the harem of their enemy Samory the be-
trothed of Mo's ruler, and I also was compelled to admit myself quite as
astounded as themselves. Therefore in brief words explanations and for-
giveness were exchanged and I rushed across, and with the ready help of
Kona and his men endeavoured to restore her to consciousness.
The dread of her horrible fate had caused her to faint, and it was a
long time ere we could bring her back to the knowledge of her surround-
ings. Tenderly the Dagombas, who a few minutes before would have
brutally murdered her, carried her into one of the small luxuriantly-fur-
nished chambers of the harem, and at my request left me alone with her.
Kona, though fierce as a wild beast in war, was tender-hearted as a child
where undefended women were concerned, and would have remained,
200
but as commander of the forces now engaged in sacking the palace many
onerous duties devolved upon him. Therefore I was left alone with her.
Her eyes closed, her fair hair disarranged, her clothing torn and blood-
stained, she lay upon a soft divan, pale and motionless as one dead. I
chafed her tiny hands, and released her rich robe at the throat to give her
air, wondering by what strange chain of circumstances she had come to
be an inmate of the private apartments of our enemy Samory. At last,
however, her breast heaved and fell slowly once or twice, and presently
she opened her beautiful eyes, gazing up at me with a puzzled, half-
frightened expression.
"Liola," I exclaimed softly, in the language of Mo. "Thou art with
friends, have no further fear. The soldiers of thy lover Omar have
wreaked a vengeance complete and terrible upon thy captor Samory."
"But the savages!" she gasped. "They will kill me as they massacred all
the women."
"No, no, they will not," I assured her, placing my arm tenderly beneath
her handsome head. "The savages are our Dagomba allies who, not
knowing that thou wert a native of Mo, would have butchered thee like
the rest."
"And thou didst save me?" she cried. "Yes, I remember, thou didst
shoot dead the brute who would have cut off my foot to secure my dia-
mond anklet. I owe my life to thee."
"Ah! do not speak of that," I cried. "Calm thyself and rest assured of
thy safety, for thou shalt return with us to the land of thy fathers. Thou
shalt, ere a moon has run its course, pillow thine head upon the shoulder
of the man thou lovest, Omar, Naba of Mo."
She blushed deeply at my words, and her small white hand still
smeared with blood, gripped my wrist. Her heart seemed too full for
words, and in this manner she silently thanked me for rescuing her from
the awful fate to which she had so nearly been hurried.
Soon she recovered from the shock sufficiently to sit up and chat. To-
gether we listened to the roar of the excited multitude outside, and from
the lattice window could see columns of dense black smoke rising from
the city, where the fighting-men of Mo, in accordance with their instruc-
tions from Omar, having sacked the place, were now setting it on fire.
In answer to my eager questions as to her adventures after her seizure
by the soldiers of the Great White Queen, she said:
"Yes. It is true they captured me, together with my girl slave, Wyona,
and hurried me towards the palace. Wyona fought and bit like a tigress,
and one of the men becoming infuriated, killed her. Just at that moment
201
the attack was made upon us by the populace, and they, witnessing his
action, tore him limb from limb. Then, in the fierce conflict that followed,
I escaped from their clutches in the same manner as Omar and thyself.
Knowing of the attack to be made upon the palace I fled for safety in the
opposite direction, and remained in hiding throughout the night in the
house of one of my kinswomen away towards the city-gate. At last the
report spread that the people had taken the palace by assault, the Naya
had been deposed, and Omar enthroned Naba in her stead. Then, feeling
that safety was assured, I ventured forth, but ere I had gone far I met a
body of strange fighting men. They were Arabs, and proved to be men
from this stronghold of our enemy Samory. After a strenuous attempt to
cross the city they had been repulsed by the people, leaving many dead,
and in their retreat towards the city-gate they seized me and bore me
away in triumph here."
"How long hast thou been in Koussan?"
"Twenty days ago we arrived, after fighting our way back and losing
half our force in skirmishes with the hostile savages of the forest. I was
brought here to Samory's harem as slave, attired in the garments I now
wear, loaded with jewels torn from the body of one of his favourites,
who, incurring his displeasure, had been promptly strangled by the chief
of the negro eunuchs, and placed in an apartment with three other slaves
to do my bidding, there to await such time as it should please my Arab
captor to inspect me. I was contemplating death," she added, dropping
her deep blue eyes. "If your attack upon the Kasbah had not been de-
livered I should most assuredly have killed myself to-day ere the going
down of the sun."
"It was fortunate that I recognized thee, or thou wouldst have been
hacked to pieces by the keen blades of our savage allies," I said.
"Take me hence," she urged panting. "I cannot bear to hear the shout of
the victor and the despairing cry of the vanquished. It is horrible.
Throughout the night we, in the women's quarters, have dreaded the fate
awaiting us if the invaders, whom we thought were savages of the forest,
should gain the mastery and enter the palace. From the high windows
yonder we witnessed the fight, knowing that our lives depended upon
its issue, and judge our dismay and despair when, soon after dawn, we
saw the Arabs overwhelmed and the Kasbah fall into the hands of their
conquerors. Many of my wretched companions killed themselves with
their poignards rather than fall into the hands of the blacks, while the
majority hid themselves only to be afterwards discovered and butchered.
Ah, it is all terrible, terrible!"
202
"True," I answered. "Yet it is only revenge for the depredations and
heartless atrocities committed by these people upon the dwellers in thy
border lands. Even at this moment Samory hath a great expedition on
the northern confines of Mo, making a vigorous attempt to invade thy
country, so that he shall reign upon the Emerald Throne in the place of
thy lover Omar."
"An expedition to invade Mo?" she cried surprised. "Hath Samory
done this; is it his intention to cause Omar's overthrow?"
"Most assuredly it is," I answered. "The reason of our presence here in
such force was to assault Koussan in the absence of its picked troops,
twenty thousand of whom were we ascertained on their way northward,
with the intention of forcing a passage through Aribanda and the Hom-
bori Mountains into Mo. Niaro hath led our fighting-men to repel their
attack, and he is accompanied by Omar and thy father, while we are
here, under Kona's leadership, to punish Samory for his intrepidity."
Then she asked how Omar fared, and I explained how it had been be-
lieved that she had died, and that all were mourning for her.
"My slave Wyona must have been mistaken for me," she answered.
"And naturally, as I had given her one of my left-off robes only the day
before."
"Omar believeth thee dead. Thy presence in Mo will indeed bring hap-
piness to his eyes, and gaiety to his heart," I exclaimed happily.
"Doth he still mourn for me?" she inquired artlessly. I knew she
wanted to ask me many questions regarding her lover, but her modesty
forbade it.
"Since the fatal night when thou wert lost joy hath never caused a
smile to cross his countenance. Sleeping and waking he thinketh only of
thee, revering thy memory, reflecting upon the happy moments spent at
thy side, as one fondly remembers a pleasant dream or adventures in
some fair paradise, yet ever sad in the knowledge that those blissful days
can never return. His is an empty honour, a kingship devoid of all pleas-
ure because thou art no longer his."
Her lips trembled slightly, and I thought her brilliant eyes became
brighter for a moment because of an unshed tear.
"I am still his," she said slowly, with emphasis. "I am ready, nay
anxious, to return to him. Thou hast saved me from death and from dis-
honour; truly thou art a worthy friend of Omar's, for by thy valiant deed
alone thou restorest unto him the woman he loveth."
203
I urged her to utter no word of thanks, and pointing to the sky,
rendered every moment more dark by the increasing volumes of smoke
ascending from the city, said:
"See! Our men are busy preparing for the destruction of this palace
that through many centuries hath been a centre of Mohammedan influ-
ence and oppression. Time doth not admit of thanks, for we both have
much to do ere we start forth on our return to Mo, and——"
My words were interrupted by a terrific explosion in such close prox-
imity to us that it caused us to jump, and was followed by a deafening
crash of falling masonry. From the lattice we saw the high handsome
minaret of the palace topple and fall amid a dense smoke and shower of
stones. Our men had undermined it and blown it up.
Liola shuddered, glancing at me in alarm.
"Fear not," I said. "Ere we leave, the city of Koussan must be devast-
ated and burned. Samory hath never given quarter, or shown mercy to
his weaker neighbours, and we will show none. Besides, he held thee
captive as he hath already held thy lover Omar and myself. He sold us to
slavers that we might be sacrificed in Kumassi, therefore the curse of thy
Crocodile-god Zomara placed upon him hath at last fallen. The flood-
gates of vengeance now opened the hand of man cannot close."
The great court of the harem, deserted by the troops, had become filled
with volumes of dense smoke, showing that fire had broken out some-
where within the palace, and ever and anon explosions of a more or less
violent character told us that the hands of the destroyers were actually at
work. The sack of the Kasbah was indeed complete.
The loot, of which there was an enormous quantity of considerable
value, was being removed to a place of safety by a large body of men
told off for the purpose. Although Samory was a fugitive, yet the treas-
ures found within his private apartments were of no mean order, and ere
noon had passed preparations were being made for its conveyance to
Mo, the greater part of the city being already in flames. The fire roared
and crackled, choking smoke-clouds obscured the sun, and the heat waf-
ted up was stifling. All opposition to us had long ago ceased, but
whenever an Arab was found secreted or a fugitive, he was shot down
without mercy. To linger longer in the harem might, I judged, be danger-
ous on account of the place having been fired, therefore we went togeth-
er out into the court, and stepping over the mutilated bodies of its beau-
tiful prisoners, entered the chamber where Samory had held his court.
Empty, dismantled and wrecked, its appearance showed plainly how the
mighty monarch had fallen. Even the great bejewelled manuscript of the
204
Korân, the Arab book of Everlasting Will, that had reposed upon its
golden stand at the end of the fine, high-roofed chamber, had been torn
up, for its leaves lay scattered about the pavement and after the jewels
had been hastily dug from their settings, the covers of green velvet had
been cast aside as worthless. Every seat or divan had been either broken
or slashed by swords, every vessel or mirror smashed, every ornament
damaged beyond repair.
Thinking it best to leave her, a woman, in care of a guard of our armed
men, while I went forward, I made the suggestion, but she would not
hear of it.
"No," she answered smiling. "I will remain ever at thy side, for beside
thee I fear not. Thou art my rescuer, and my life is thine."
"But some of the sights we may witness are not such as a woman's
eyes should behold," I answered.
"It mattereth not. That thou wilt allow me to accompany thee, is all I
ask."
"Very well," I replied, laughing. "Thou art welcome. Come."
By my side she hurried through the chamber wherein had stood the
throne, and thence through several handsome courts, wandering at last
into another smaller chamber at the side of which I noticed an alcove
with a huge Arab bed surrounded by quaint lattices, so dark that my
gaze could not penetrate to its recesses.
As we passed, the movement of some object in the deep shadow be-
side the bed attracted my attention. Advancing quickly I detected the fig-
ure of a man, and, fearing a sudden dash by one of our lurking foes, I
again drew my sword.
Liola, seeing this, gave vent to a little scream of alarm and placed her
hand upon my arm in fear, but next second the fugitive, anticipating my
intention to attack him, sprang suddenly forward into the light.
The bearded face, the fierce, flashing eyes, the thick lips and bushy
brows were all familiar to me. Although he wore the white cotton garb of
the meanest slave, I recognised him in an instant.
It was the great Arab chieftain Samory!
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Chapter 34
LIOLA'S DISCOVERY.
With a sudden bound I left Liola's side and sprang upon the leader of
our enemies, clutching him fiercely by the throat and shouting for assist-
ance. No one was, however, near, and for a few moments we struggled
desperately. He was unarmed, and I, having unfortunately dropped my
sword in the encounter, our conflict resolved itself into a fierce wrestle
for the possession of the weapon which must give victory to the one into
whose hands it fell. Once Samory, wiry and muscular like all Arabs, not-
withstanding his age, stooped swiftly in an endeavour to snatch up the
blade, but seeing his intention, my fingers tightened their grip upon his
throat, and he was compelled to spring up again without obtaining pos-
session of the weapon. For several minutes our struggle was desperate,
for he had managed to pinion my arms, and I knew that ere long I must
be powerless, his strength being far superior to my own.
Liola screamed for help, but no one seemed within call, when sud-
denly the thought seemed to suggest itself to her to snatch up my
weapon and hold it.
I turned to take it from her, but by this action my grip upon my Arab
foe became released, and with a desperate spring he forced himself from
my grasp, bounding away, leaving a portion of his white jibbeh in my
hand. But, determined that he should not escape, I dashed after him
headlong across the chamber, and out by the opposite door. In the court
beyond a knot of our soldiers were standing discussing the events of the
day, and I shouted to them; but the sight of me chasing a single fugitive
slave did not appeal to them, and they disregarded my order to arrest his
progress. Nevertheless I kept on, feeling assured that sooner or later I
must run him to earth, but never thinking of the intricacies with which
all such palaces abound, intricacies which must be well-known to the
Mohammedan ruler.
Suddenly, after endeavouring to elude me by ingenious devices innu-
merable, and always finding himself frustrated, he entered a chamber
206
leading from the Court of the Eunuchs, and had gained on me suffi-
ciently to disappear ere I reached the entrance. I rushed through after
him, believing that he had crossed the deserted court beyond, but was
surprised to find that I had utterly lost him. I halted to listen, but could
hear no footsteps, and after a careful examination of all the outlets,
presently returned in chagrin to the chamber into which he had sud-
denly dashed, before escaping.
Standing in its centre I looked wonderingly around. Then, for the first
time, I discovered that our soldiers, obeying their instructions, had been
pouring inflammable liquids everywhere throughout the Kasbah, and a
great burst of blood-red flame in the outer court told me that the place
had been ignited. At that moment, Liola, with white scared face, believ-
ing that she had lost me, entered the chamber, but I recognized our im-
minent peril, surrounded as we were by a belt of fire.
"Fly!" I cried, frantically. "Fly! quick, back across yonder court to save
thy life! In a few moments I will join thee. I must examine this chamber
ere I depart."
"I will not go without thee," she answered with calm decision.
"Why riskest thou thy life?" I cried in excitement. "Fly, or in a moment
it may be too late, we may both be overwhelmed or suffocated."
But she stirred not. She stood by me in silence, gazing in fear at the red
roaring flames that, raging outside, now cut off our retreat by either
door. The cause of my hesitation to rush away at first sight of the flames,
was the suspicion that somewhere in that chamber was a secret exit. The
sudden manner in which the Arab chieftain had eluded me could only
have been accomplished by such means. The chamber, well furnished
and supported by three great twisted columns of milk-white marble, had
its floor covered with costly rugs and its walls hung with dark red
hangings, bearing strange devices and inscriptions in long thin Arabic
characters. Few rooms in the Kasbah were decorated in this manner, and
it had instantly occurred to me that, concealed somewhere, was one of
those secret ways which, whether in the Oriental palace, or the mediæval
European castle, are so suggestive of treachery and intrigue.
Although one horse-shoe arch of the place led into the Court of the Eu-
nuchs, the other, I noticed, was in direct communication with Samory's
private apartments. With consummate skill he had led me here by such a
circuitous route that I had not at first noticed that it joined a kind of ante-
room to his pavilion.
But the roaring flames that every moment leaped nearer, crackling
furiously and fanning us with their scorching breath, allowed me no
207
time for further reflection. Escape was now entirely cut off; only by dis-
covering the secret exit could we save ourselves. In breathless haste I
rushed around the walls, tapping them with my sword; but such action
proved useless, as I could hear nothing above the roaring and crackling
on either side. With my hands I tried to discover where the door was
concealed, rushing from side to side in frantic despair, but the exit,
wherever it existed, was too cunningly hidden.
So dense had the smoke become that we could not see across the
chamber; tongues of fire had ignited the heavy silken hangings, and the
whole interior was alight from end to end.
"We are lost—lost!" shrieked Liola in despair "We have fallen victims
to our own terrible vengeance upon our enemies."
Within myself I was compelled to admit this, for it seemed as though
Samory had led us into a veritable death-trap that the soldiers of Mo had
themselves prepared. Suddenly, as a last chance, I remembered I had not
examined the three great marble columns, each of such circumference
that a man could not embrace them in his arms. I dashed forward, and in
the blinding smoke, that caused my eyes to water and held my chest con-
tracted, I tried to investigate whether they were what they appeared to
be, solid and substantial supports. The first was undoubtedly fashioned
out of a single block of stone, the lower portion polished by the thou-
sands of people who during many centuries had brushed past it. The
second was exactly similar, and the third also. But the latter seemed
more chipped and worn than the others, and just as I was about to aban-
don all hope I made a sudden discovery that thrilled me with joy. As I
grasped it a portion of it fell back, disclosing that the column was
hollow.
The hole was just sufficient to admit the passage of one's body, and
without an instant's hesitation I drew Liola forward, and urged her to get
inside. The flames were now lapping about us, and another moment's
delay would mean certain death. Therefore she dashed in, and as she did
so sank quickly out of sight, while the portion of the marble column
closed again with a snap.
The rapidity with which she disappeared astounded me, the more so,
when, after the lapse of about a minute the platform whereon she had
stepped rose again, and with a click returned to its place. Only then was
I enabled to re-open the cavity. Apparently it worked automatically, and
being balanced in some way, as soon as Liola had stepped off it, had ris-
en again. Instantly I stepped upon it, and with hands close to my sides,
sank so swiftly into the darkness that the wind whistled through my
208
garments and roared in my ears. The descent was, I judged, about two
hundred feet, but in the pitch darkness I could not discern the character
of the shaft. Of a sudden with a jerk it stopped, and finding myself in a
strange dimly-lit chamber bricked like a vault, with Liola standing await-
ing me, I stepped off, and as I did so the platform shot up again into its
place.
"We have, at all events, escaped being burned alive," my fair compan-
ion exclaimed when she recovered breath. "But this place is weird and
dismal enough."
"True," I answered. "There must, however, be some exit, or Samory
would not have entered it. We must explore and discover it."
Glancing around the mysterious vault I saw burning in a niche, with a
supply of oil sufficient to last several weeks, a single lamp that had ap-
parently always been kept alight. Taking it up I led the way through the
long narrow chamber. The walls, blackened by damp, were covered with
great grey fungi, while lizards and other reptiles scuttled from our path
into the darkness. At the further end, the vault narrowed into a passage
so low that we were compelled to stoop when entering it. In this burrow,
the ramifications of which were extraordinary, Liola's filmy garments
came to sad grief, for catching upon the projecting portions of rock, they
were rent from time to time, while the loss of one of her little green slip-
pers necessitated some delay in recovering it. Yet groping along the nar-
row uneven way in search of some exit, we at length came into a larger
chamber, bricked like the others, and as we entered it were startled by a
sudden unearthly roar.
We both drew back, and Liola, in fear, clutched my arm.
"Listen!" she gasped. "What was that?"
Again the noise was repeated, causing the low-roofed chamber to
echo, and as I peered forward into the darkness, my gaze was transfixed
by a pair of gleaming fiery eyes straight before us.
Similar noises I had heard in the forest on many occasions, and the
startling truth at once flashed across my mind. Confronting us was a
lion!
I stood in hesitation, not knowing how to act, while Liola clung to me,
herself detecting the gleaming eyes and being fully aware of our peril.
Yet scarcely a moment passed ere there was a loud rushing sound in the
darkness, and the animal, with a low growl, flew through the air in our
direction. We had no time to elude him, but fortunately he seemed to
have misjudged his distance, for he alighted about half-a-dozen paces
short of us. So close was his head that the two gleaming orbs seemed to
209
be rivetted to us. We felt his breath, and unable to draw back, we feared
that each second must be our last.
Next moment I heard a clanking of chains, a sound that gave me in-
stant courage.
"Hark!" I cried joyously. "At present we are safe, for the brute is
chained!"
Such we ascertained a few minutes later was actually the case, and as I
stood there, lamp in hand, my foot struck something. Glancing down I
saw it was a human thigh-bone. The animal had already tasted the blood
of man, and, straining at his chain, was furious to spring upon us. I then
became puzzled to know the reason why this fierce king of the forest
should be kept in captivity at this depth if not to guard some entrance or
exit. For a few moments I reflected, and at length arrived at the conclu-
sion that during our progress we had slowly ascended towards the
earth's surface, and that through the lion's den was the exit of that sub-
terranean way. Again, we had neither seen nor heard sign of the fugitive
chieftain. By some means or other he must have succeeded in passing the
ferocious brute, and if he had accomplished it, we surely could also.
With my words half drowned by the continuous roar of the fiery-eyed
guardian of the secret burrow, I explained briefly to Liola the result of
my reflections, and then set about to ascertain the length of the chain
holding the animal. After several experiments, allowing it to spring for-
ward at me half-a-dozen times and narrowly escaping its ponderous
paws more than once, I ascertained that the chain was just short enough
to allow a person to cross the chamber flattened against the opposite
wall.
Holding the lamp still in my hand and urging Liola to brace her nerves
and watch me closely, I essayed the attempt, creeping cautiously with
my back against the roughly-hewn side of the underground lair, and
drawing my garments about me to prevent them being hooked by the
cruel claws that followed me within a yard during the whole distance.
Before my eyes the big shaggy head wagged continuously, the great jaws
with their terrible teeth opened, emitting terrific roars of rage and closed
again with a dull ominous click, while the chain was strained until I
feared it might be rent asunder.
Through several minutes mine was a most horrible experience, for I
knew not whether the wall was even; if not, I must have fallen beneath
the ferocious claws. However, I managed to successfully cross the brute's
den, and shouting to Liola that the passage was perfectly safe, providing
210
she kept her garments closely about her and did not remove her back
from the wall, held up the light to her.
With reassuring words she commenced to follow my example, and
when the brute saw me in safety and noticed her approach, he left me
and sprang towards her. But again he fell short, almost strangled by the
pressure upon the iron collar that held him. With an awful roar, his jaws
snapping in rage, and his paws constantly clutching at her, he followed
her closely just as he had followed me. I feared that she might suddenly
faint from the terrible strain upon her nerves, but having witnessed my
safe passage she preserved a calmness that was amazing. Twice as the
animal, after crouching, leapt suddenly forward I feared the chain must
give way, but beyond a low frightened scream escaping her, she pre-
served a cool demeanour, and a few moments later I was gratified to find
her standing panting but unharmed at my side.
"There is an exit somewhere near," I exclaimed a moment later, while
she rearranged her torn, blood-stained garments and smoothed her hair
with her hands. "Come, let us search."
On proceeding we soon found ourselves in a small passage, drier than
the former, and descending rather steeply for some distance, suddenly
entered another spacious chamber hewn from the solid rock. Immedi-
ately we were inside some peculiarity of its walls attracted my gaze, and
I noticed, in addition, that we were in a cul-de-sac.
There was, after all, no exit!
The rocky walls, however, rivetted the attention of both of us, for let
into them at frequent intervals were large square plates of iron. These I
examined carefully, quickly arriving at the conclusion that they had been
placed there to close up hewn cavities. With this opinion, Liola, assisting
me in my investigations, fully agreed. Each plate, looking curiously like
the door of an oven, had apparently been fitted deeply into grooves sunk
in the hard rock, for although I tried one after the other, seeking to re-
move them, they would not budge. By tapping upon them I ascertained
that they were of great thickness, and I judged that each must weigh sev-
eral hundredweight. They were not doors, for they had no hinges, yet
beneath each one was a small semi-circular hole in the iron into which I
could just thrust my little finger. These were certainly not key-holes, but
rather, it seemed, intended to admit air.
In the course of our eager investigations we suddenly came upon a
great pile of strongly-bound loads, each wrapped in untanned cow-hide
and bound tightly with wire. From their battered appearance they had
evidently rested upon the heads of carriers throughout a long march.
211
"I wonder what they contain?" Liola exclaimed, as we both looked
down upon them.
"Let us see," I said. Handing her the lamp, I knelt upon one of the
packages, and after considerable trouble succeeded in unbinding the
wire. Then as I tore away its thick covering, we both uttered cries of
amazement. The sight that met our gaze was bewildering.
From the package there rolled out into the dust a profusion of magnifi-
cent glittering jewels.
"Ah! What diamonds!" Liola cried, with admiration for the iridescent
stones that was particularly feminine. Then, picking up a splendid brace-
let and slipping it upon her wrist, she added, "Look! Isn't this marvel-
lous? The gems are larger than I have ever before seen."
"Beautiful!" I cried gleefully, for by sheer good fortune we had dis-
covered Samory's hidden treasure, and I reflected that our conquest
would be rendered absolutely complete by its removal in triumph to Mo.
After a cursory examination of the first pack we together undid them
one after another, eagerly investigating their glistening contents, and
finding them to consist of a collection of the most wonderful and valu-
able precious stones it was possible to conceive. There were a few heavy
gold ornaments of antique pattern, but in most of them jewels were set,
and those only of the most antique and magnificent character. Every
known gem was there represented by specimens larger, and of far purer
water, than my eyes had ever before beheld. Upon her knees, Liola, with
a cry of pleasure, plunged both hands into the glittering heap of jewels,
drawing out one after another and holding them up to the glimmering
light, her bright eyes full of admiration. The examination of nearly forty
great packages took us a long time, but so fascinating proved our task
that we were heedless of how the hours sped in our determination to as-
certain the true extent of our discovery.
While still upon her knees I had opened almost the last package and
spread it before her, when, with a sudden ejaculation she withdrew a
magnificent necklet of emeralds of huge size in quaint ancient settings,
and with a gay laugh held it up to me for a moment, then clasped it
about her own white neck. In the centre hung a pendant consisting of a
single emerald of enormous size and brilliant lustre, and as I regarded it
in the half light, its shape struck me as distinctly curious. I snatched up
the lamp, and bending, examined the quaintly-cut gem more minutely.
Then, next instant, I cried excitedly:
"See! The shape of the pendant proves the origin of the necklet!"
212
With a quick movement she tore it off and looked. Then, in
amazement, she gasped:
"It is a representation of Zomara, our god!"
We both scrutinized it closely. Yes, there was no mistake, the emerald
had been fashioned into the form of a perfect crocodile, with open jaws,
even the teeth being finely chiselled, a veritable marvel of the lapidary's
art. While we were both looking at it puzzled, Liola's eyes suddenly be-
came attracted by sight of something in the package I had just opened,
and stooping swiftly, picked out of a mass of ornaments a magnificent
diadem of some strange milk-coloured, opaque crystals of a character en-
tirely strange to me. The stones were beautifully cut and polished, and
although they glittered, even in the sickly rays of our lamp, they had no
transparency.
"Behold!" she cried in a voice full of awe, her clear eyes wide open in
astonishment. "See what we have discovered!"
I gazed at it, failing at first to notice what I afterwards recognised.
"It is a crown," I said laughing. "A crown fit to grace thy brow!"
"It is the great Rock Diadem of the Sanoms of Mo!" she answered. "See!
It is surmounted by the vampire, our national emblem!"
Then, I saw that upon the crest of the diadem was a single great dia-
mond wonderfully chiselled to represent a bat with outspread wings, the
device upon the banners of the mystic realm.
"This," she continued, "is without doubt the historic crown of the first
Naya. Though it hath never been seen for ages by the eyes of man, it was
always popularly supposed to be preserved in the secret Treasure-house
of the Sanoms, among the royal jewels. Many are the beliefs and super-
stitions regarding it. The stones are said to be the first pieces of rock
chipped during the foundation of our City in the Clouds, which, as thou
art aware, was her work a thousand years ago. Among the possessions of
our royal house no relic hath been more venerated than this Rock Dia-
dem of the Naya. How it came hither I know not. It is assuredly a
mystery."
"No," I answered, endeavouring to subdue my excitement. "We have
now elucidated the mystery. The Treasure-house of Mo hath been
entered by thieves, and the most valuable of the royal treasures stolen.
The matter hath been kept secret from the people, but by our discovery
the identity of the robbers is established beyond doubt, and we have
thus recovered the wealth of a nation that was believed to be irretriev-
ably lost."
213
"But is all of this Omar's lost treasure?" she inquired, astounded at my
statement, glancing at the huge heap of gold and jewels nearly as high as
ourselves, and of such great value as to be utterly beyond computation.
"Without doubt," I answered, stooping and picking up several jewelled
trinkets, girdles and other ornaments, each bearing the sacred reptile or
the vampire crest of royalty. "The recovery of these will, at least repay
thy nation for the expedition sent against their enemy. Retain possession
of the Rock Diadem of Mo, for thou hast discovered it, and with thine
own hands shalt thou deliver it into the possession of the ruler who
loveth thee."
Then, carefully wrapping the ancient badge of regal dignity in a piece
of hide and binding it securely with wire as the carriers' loads had been,
I gave it back to her. In half an hour we had completed our examination
of the wondrous accumulation of treasure, finding among it many quaint
and extraordinary ornaments, some no doubt dating from the earlier
days of the foundation of the mysterious isolated kingdom, and others
manufactured during recent centuries. The gems were unique in size and
character. Truly the thieves in the employ of the Arab chief had taken
care to secure the most valuable portion of the royal jewels and leave be-
hind only those of least worth.
With the secret of their concealment in our possession we were both
full of eagerness to get back to the light of day and take steps for their re-
moval, yet I confess that the mystery of what was contained behind
those strange plates of iron puzzled me.
Leaving Liola to continue her inspection of our discovered treasures, I
crossed to the wall and examined one of the plates again, trying with
both hands to force it out, but being compelled to relinquish the attempt
as hopeless. I was about to give up all idea of discovering how they
might be opened, when Liola suddenly uttered an exclamation, and in
turning to glance at her, the flame of the lamp I held came into contact
with the wall close to the plate that had defied my exertions to remove it.
In an instant a bright flash ran around the chamber, lighting it up as
bright as day; a puff of grey smoke was belched in our faces, and a report
like thunder deafened us.
An explosion had occurred, great pieces of rock and other débris being
flung in all directions.
Its terrific force hurled me heavily against the wall, while Liola was
flung face downward upon the pile of jewels. Fortunately, neither of us
sustained any injury beyond a few bruises, but when I had assisted her
to rise, and gazed around, I was amazed to discover that a strange thing
214
had occurred. The whole of the iron plates had been torn from their sock-
ets, and a dark cavity behind each disclosed.
The small sealed cells had been wrenched open simultaneously, as if
by a miracle.
But upon careful examination there was, I found, nothing miraculous
in the manner in which they had thus been forced. The suffocating
smoke that filled the place was of itself sufficient evidence of the agent to
which the explosion had been due, and when I looked at the first cavity I
saw that right around the chamber, from plate to plate, there had been
laid a train of gunpowder, communicating with a charge of powder
placed behind each of the semi-circular holes that had so puzzled me.
Apparently it had been deemed by Samory wiser to seal the cells entirely
rather than secure them by locks, and the train of powder had been
placed in position in the event of any reverse of fortune requiring him to
secure his treasure quickly before flight. A single spark, as I had acci-
dentally proved, was sufficient to open every cell simultaneously.
Fortunately our lamp was not blown out by the concussion, therefore
as soon as the smoke cleared, we together made another tour of inspec-
tion around the cavities, finding each of them crammed to overflowing
with treasure of every description. Five of the cells, apparently freshly
sealed, contained a portion of the stolen jewels of Mo, but all the re-
mainder were evidently the spoils of war, much of it of enormous value.
It amused me, too, to discover in one of the cavities, among a great col-
lection of costly bejewelled ornaments, such European articles as a pair
of common scissors in a pasteboard case, several penknives of the com-
monest quality, an India-rubber squeaking doll, a child's toy train in tin,
and a mechanical mouse. All were, no doubt, considered as treasures by
the Arab potentate, yet I reflected that nearly every article in the whole
of that miscellaneous collection had been acquired by the most ruthless
and merciless bloodshed.
When at last we became convinced of the necessity for finding some
exit, we left the chamber by the way we had entered. The discovery of
the wonderful treasure of the Sanoms made it plain to me that there
must be an exit somewhere, for the packs were far too ponderous to have
been lowered from the Kasbah by the way we had entered. On reflection
I saw that the lion was evidently kept there to guard the entrance to the
store of treasure, therefore it was not surprising that there was no outlet
in that direction.
No, we should be compelled to repass the brute. This fact I explained
to Liola, but it in no way disconerted her, for she crept past the snapping
215
jaws of the furious beast calmly, holding the treasured Rock Diadem
close beside her. Presently, on making a diligent search, we discovered a
long dark tunnel running at right angles to the path we had traversed,
and following this ascended to where a faint but welcome glimmer of
light showed. Soon we were in a small natural cavern, and a few mo-
ments later struggled upward to the light of day, amazed to find
ourselves on the bank of a beautiful river. At our feet the clear cool water
ran by, placid and peaceful, but away across the grass-plain about half a
mile distant was the once-powerful city of Koussan, enveloped in black
smoke that ascended to the clear blue heavens, mingled with great
flames, the fierce roar of which reached our ears where we stood.
The vengeance of Mo had indeed overtaken her Arab enemy, and
completely crushed him.
216
Chapter 35
INTO THE MIST.
Our troops had, we found, withdrawn from the burning city and were
encamped about a mile away, taking a well-earned rest, and watching
with satisfaction the destruction of the once powerful capital of the
"Pirate of the Niger." The presence of Liola, together with the announce-
ment of the discovery of the treasure of the Sanoms, that we made to
Kona secretly, caused him the wildest delight. His barbaric instinct over-
came him, and seizing his spear he executed a kind of war-dance around
us, bestowing upon us the most adulatory phrases of the Dagomba
vocabulary. Afterwards he addressed the assembled soldiers, omitting at
my desire all mention of the jewels of Mo, and three days later, having
secured all the gems and golden ornaments, together with Samory's hid-
den wealth, we set forth on our triumphant return to the mysterious far-
off land.
Rapidly and pleasantly we accomplished the long journey, re-crossing
the treacherous Way of the Thousand Steps without a single mishap, and
ascended to the lofty plateau of Omar's kingdom until, high up in the
grey morning mist, we saw looming before us with almost spectral indis-
tinctness the gigantic battlements and domes of the City in the Clouds.
On ascending the rope steps at the Gate of Mo a few days previously we
had ascertained that the expedition to the Hombori Mountains had been
entirely successful, for the enemy had been met in the pass by the de-
fenders and mercilessly overwhelmed and slaughtered. Against the
lightweight Maxim guns, weighing only about twenty-five pounds each
and firing 600 to 700 shots per minute with an effective range of two
miles, the old-fashioned rifles and field-pieces of the force under the
traitor Kouaga had been powerless, hence the whole expedition had
been utterly routed, followed up after their flight and massacred almost
to a man, Kouaga himself being shot dead by Niaro while strenuously
endeavouring to rally his men for a final onslaught. Omar, at the head of
his victorious army, had re-entered the city only the day before our
217
arrival, therefore on our return we found ourselves in the midst of feast-
ing and merry-making of a most enthusiastic character.
Little wonder was it that when the news of the complete victory we
had secured spread through the city the joy of the people knew no
bounds, for especially welcome was the information that, in addition to
utterly destroying Samory's city we had secured the whole of his treas-
ure. Kona, Liola and myself held back the fact that we had also recovered
the stolen jewels, and we also took elaborate precautions that the know-
ledge of Liola's safety should not be conveyed prematurely to Omar.
During the formal welcome that the young Naba, resplendent in his
magnificent bejewelled robes of state and surrounded by his sages and
officers, accorded us at the great palace-gate, now fully restored, Liola
held back, hiding herself. Not until evening, when I was sitting with
Omar in his luxurious private pavilion after eating a sumptuous meal
served on the royal dishes of chased gold, I told him confidentially of the
recovery of the lost jewels.
"Impossible, Scars!" he cried in English, starting suddenly to his feet.
"Where did you find them? How?"
Brief words were required to explain how I had discovered them hid-
den in Samory's secret cavern beyond the lion's lair.
"I understood that only the wealth of the old Arab's Kasbah was hid-
den there," he exclaimed quickly. "This news is indeed as astounding as
it is welcome."
"Your subjects are unaware that your treasure has ever been removed
from Mo, therefore I have not enlightened them," I answered. "Come
with me and see if you recognize any of the jewels."
Eagerly he followed me into a small adjoining apartment where the
loot had been deposited, and as we opened pack after pack he uttered
ejaculations of surprise and complete gratification, recognizing in the re-
covered gems the wonderful incomparable heirlooms of his royal house.
He turned to thank me when we had finished, and as he did so I
placed my hand firmly on his arm, saying in a serious voice:
"In addition to these, Omar, I have also recovered a jewel of even far
greater worth than all this magnificent collection; one that will shine as
the brightest and most beautiful gem in the diadem of Mo."
A genuine look of bewilderment crossed his pale refined features for
an instant, as he answered:
"I really don't understand, Scars. No jewel can be of greater intrinsic
value than the Treasure of the Sanoms. What is it?"
218
For answer, Liola, a veritable vision of classic beauty in her loose white
robe, gold-embroidered at the hem, and broad girdle of fiery rubies,
stepped from behind the heavy curtain of blue silk where she had been
concealed, and stood before him.
Rigid in speechless amazement he stood for a moment, then recogniz-
ing that his lost love was actually present, alive and well, he bounded to-
wards her, and with a loud cry of joy embraced her, brushing back her
soft hair and covering her white open brow with passionate kisses.
It was indeed a joyous reunion, but as I turned intending to withdraw
discreetly and leave them alone together to continue their exchange of
confidences, my friend promptly called me back, saying:
"Stay, Scars, old fellow! Let me hear from your own lips the solution of
this mystery of the return of the dead to life. Truly you have recovered a
jewel worth to me a hundred times all the treasures of Mo."
Crossing again towards him I described briefly the revolting circum-
stances in which I had discovered her, a harem slave of our Arab enemy;
how we had both narrowly escaped being burned to death, our sub-
sequent adventures in the damp subterranean burrow, and the finding of
the secreted treasure.
"Liola herself also made one discovery," I said in conclusion, laughing
and turning towards her.
Gently disengaging herself from her lover's fond arms she went be-
hind the curtain where she had hidden, and on coming forth again held
in her slim white hands a round package still securely wrapped in un-
tanned hide, which she handed to Omar.
"The Rock Diadem of the Naya!" he cried in joy, when his trembling,
eager hands had opened it. "The most valued of all our possessions!"
Then, turning towards Liola, he tenderly placed upon her head the his-
toric mark of royalty, saying in his own tongue:
"Now that the days of our sorrow have passed like the shadow of a
cloud upon a sunlit sea, we will be wed as soon as it is meet for us so to
do, and upon thy brow thus shalt rest the diadem of the first Naya, the
upright queen to whom Mo oweth her magnificence, her power, and her
present prosperity. Thou shalt sit beside me upon the Emerald Throne;
thou shalt be known as the Naya Liola."
Again he embraced her with ineffable tenderness, and with her hand-
some head pillowed heavily upon his shoulder her breast heaved, and
from her deep blue fathomless eyes there fell tears of joy.
At last, having received the warmest thanks from my old companion
through many misfortunes and from the woman he loved, I turned and
219
sought the sage Goliba, to whom I told the good news of his daughter's
safety and betrothal to Omar.
Three days later the marriage took place amid the most gorgeous
pomp and the wildest popular rejoicings, the strange ceremony being
performed by the high-priest of the Temple of Zomara beneath the
golden figure of the Crocodile-god that hung suspended above the
Emerald Throne. Feasts and merry-making continued throughout a
whole moon, and the mystic city, decorated with flags and flowers, was
agog by day and brilliantly illuminated by night. Never in the long his-
tory of the ancient kingdom had such costly banquets been served; never
had the royal entertainments been on such lavish scale; never had the
sounds of revelry contained such a true genuine ring, for never before
had the people been so happy and content. Though on the day of the
marriage Liola was solemnly crowned with the wonderful Rock Diadem
of Mo, I, as keeper of the royal treasure, allowed no word to go forth re-
garding the theft and recovery of the Sanom jewels, which had already
been deposited in their original hiding-place beneath the lake. Samory's
treasure was, however, given to Liola by Omar, and she ordered half of it
to be distributed to the poor, an act of generosity that won for her intense
popularity.
Her action was, she told me in confidence, a thank-offering to Zomara
for her timely rescue from a terrible fate.
220
CONCLUSION.
Samory, the truculent old Arab, escaped. By some means he eluded us in
the dark intricacies of that subterranean way, and groping along in a
similar manner to ourselves, he evidently fled to the forest, for he has
since collected the scattered remnant of his nomadic bands, and although
he has never since troubled us, yet he now and then commits depreda-
tions on the borders of the English and French spheres of influence. Ere
long he will overstep the bounds, and one Power or another will cer-
tainly send a punitive expedition to crush and humiliate him, as they
have crushed the arrogant Prempeh of Ashanti.
During many months the means by which the theft of the Treasure of
the Sanoms had been effected remained an inscrutable mystery, and it
was only on the day previous to my departure from the mysterious land
for England, or rather more than six months ago, that the problem was
solved and in a manner entirely unexpected.
In preparation for the annual feast in honour of the Crocodile-god I
had occasion to go secretly and alone to the submerged Treasure-house,
in order to obtain certain jewels which tradition decreed should be worn
on that day by the reigning sovereign. I had emptied the lake, unsealed
the cover of the well-like aperture, locked the mechanism fatal to in-
truders, descended and obtained what I sought, when on ascending I
was dismayed to find water pouring in upon me in increasing volumes.
Upwards I climbed, struggling desperately against the inrushing flood
thundering down upon me, and was aghast to find, when I gained the
surface, that the sluice-gates that held back the waters feeding the lake
had been opened, and that it was rapidly refilling. Instantly it occurred
to me to replace the cover, and in breathless haste I succeeded in screw-
ing it down and dashing for my life back to the bank, the water being up
to my arm-pits ere I reached it.
When next second I glanced upward to the mound where the mechan-
ism was concealed, I saw standing thereon the wild-looking figure of a
woman with her soiled, tattered garments fluttering in the wind.
Her long scraggy arms were raised high above her head, and she was
crying aloud to me.
Without a moment's hesitation I dashed forward up the hill to secure
the person who had apparently discovered the secret of the Treasure-
house, but on approaching her closely I suddenly halted in
astonishment.
221
The wretched, fiendish-looking virago, upon whose face were the
most hideous distortions of insanity I had ever witnessed, was none oth-
er than the once-powerful tyrannical autocrat, the Great White Queen!
Across her narrow, withered brow, brown almost as a toad's back, a
single wisp of thin grey hair strayed; in her eyes was the unmistakeable
light of madness, while the nails of her outstretched fingers were as
sharp and long as the talons of some beast of prey. So weird and
repulsive-looking was she that I stood before her dumbfounded.
"Ah!" she shrieked to me exultantly, in a harsh, rasping voice, "I have
killed them—drowned them all, the accursed spies and renegades! The
traitor Kouaga captured me as I fled for life from the city-gate, and
promising me release and safe escort from this land of evil spirits in re-
turn for the secret of the Treasure-house, I recklessly gave it to him, on
condition that his armed men should assist me to recover my lost posi-
tion as Queen of Mo. I promised to forget the past and take him back into
my favour. But, securing my jewels, he conveyed them to his Arab mas-
ter at Koussan, and left me alone, deposed and ruined. May Zomara
crush and torture him, the traitor!" Then, turning with wild gesture to-
wards the lake, now a great sheet of placid water, her hands clutched
convulsively, her eyes starting as if she saw, in her disordered imagina-
tion, a host of her enemies, she cried: "This, at last, is the hour of my re-
venge! I have drawn the lever, and while they were below with you they
were drowned like rats in a hole!" And she gave vent to a short, dry
laugh, exclaiming: "They refused to assist me to tear the usurper from
the Emerald Throne, so I have killed them. My work is finished! I have
reigned and have been deposed; I have striven for the people, and have
been rewarded by their curses; I have——"
At this moment, determined to carry her back to the city, I sprang for-
ward and gripped her lean, bony arms. With colossal strength, en-
gendered by insanity, she fought and bit, shrieking and showering im-
precations upon me, it requiring all my strength to hold her; but
presently she became quiet again, uttering long strings of rapid incoher-
ent words that plainly showed the hopeless state of her mind.
Thus walking, we gained the edge of the lake, and having passed the
cascade were skirting the river when, with a suddenness that took me
completely by surprise, she slipped from my grasp, and with a wild ex-
clamation dashed towards the warm, oozy bank.
Next second I noticed that the waters were alive with the sacred rep-
tiles, but ere I could reach her she threw up her long, thin arms, and ut-
tering an unearthly yell, plunged in.
222
A dozen hideous, hungry jaws snapped viciously as she cast herself
amongst them, and an instant later where, with a shriek of horror, she
disappeared for ever beneath the waters, the swiftly-flowing current was
tinged red by long streaks of human blood.
In an excess of religious fervour she had sacrificed herself to her god
Zomara.
This is no apologue. Little there remains to tell. Under the beneficent
rule of Omar and Liola power, prosperity and contentment have now re-
turned to the mysterious ancient realm, within which I have been the
first stranger to set foot. As principal official of the ruler of the land that,
although familiar to me, is still a mystery to the Royal Geographical Soci-
ety, I left for England a few months ago on a mission to the greatest
White Queen, Victoria, offering her assistance in her effort to crush the
cruel sway of our mutual enemies the Ashantis. Our offer was cordially
accepted, and the successful issue of the campaign which caused the
downfall of Prempeh is now well known. Before returning to resume my
duties as Governor of Mo, the far-off spectral City in the Clouds, into
which no stranger may enter, I have, however, written down, at the in-
stigation of the publishers whose name this volume bears upon its title-
page, this plain tale of travel, treason and treasure as a record of the first
successful journey to the high-up, inaccessible land of the Naya, the
once-dreaded Great White Queen.
THE END.
223
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